Greece on Thursday handed over the Olympic flame to Tokyo 2020 organisers at a ceremony held behind closed doors.
In the absence of spectators, Olympic gymnastics champion Lefteris Petrounias ran a lap with the flame and Olympic pole vault champion Katerina Stefanidi lit a cauldron inside the all-marble Panathenaic stadium, where the first modern Olympics were held in 1896.
The flame was then handed to Tokyo 2020 representative Naoko Imoto, a swimmer who competed in the Atlanta 1996 Olympics. Imoto, a UNICEF representative, was reportedly a last-minute appointment as she already lives in Greece and did not have to travel from Japan.
Greek President Katerina Sakellaropoulou in a statement said the ancient Olympic values of “concord, goodwill, brotherhood... are the weapon to use” against the virus.
Last week’s flame lighting ceremony in ancient Olympia was also carried out without spectators as Greece registered its first death from the virus.
“Regretfully the COVID-19 outbreak made us take hard decisions and change our initial plans. We deeply regret that you... were not able to travel to Greece and join us here today,” Greek Olympic Committee chairman Spyros Kapralos said, addressing Tokyo organisers absent from Thursday’s ceremony.