The lighting ceremony of the Olympic flame in ancient Olympia on Thursday will take place without spectators because of the coronavirus emergency, organizers said.
The ceremony will be attended by only 100 accredited guests from the International Olympic Committee and the Tokyo 2020 organizing committee. A dress rehearsal on Wednesday will also be be closed to the public.
%%%twitter https://twitter.com/hashtag/Tokyo2020?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Tokyo2020 @Olympics torch-lighting ceremony in ancient Olympia this week will be staged without spectators as organisers protect the event from the #coronavirus, Greece's Olympic Committee said on Monday. #COVID19
— IOL Sport (@IOLsport)
The Olympic flame is due to arrive in Japan on March 20 after a Greek relay leg and a handover ceremony in Athens on March 19.
The torch will be carried around 47 prefectures in Japan in a 121-day relay starting in Fukushima, about 250 kilometres north-east of Tokyo, before arriving at the July 24 Olympic Games opening ceremony in Tokyo's New National Stadium.