The Olympic Flame was welcomed at noon on Monday, April 22 by Komotini, as one of the cities – stations where it will pass on its way from Ancient Olympia to Paris.
The Olympic Flame arrived at around 3:00 in the afternoon at the western entrance of the city and with the torchbearers who received it, it reached the City Hall where the altar lighting ceremony was held by the torchbearer Kostas Baniotis.
The Torchbearers who received the Olympic Flame are the following:
From Ypsilantou Street 1 to the Tsanaklio Municipal Library of Komotini (Demokritou & Stoukopoulos): 1st Torchbearer Kyriakos Bakirtzis (Martial Arts).
From the Municipal Library of Komotini to 1 Dimokritou Street: 2nd Lampadidromos, Nicoleta Barba (Pali).
From Demokritou Street to Orfeos Street 21: 3rd Lampadidromos, Athanasios Mimikos (Wheelchair Basketball).
From 21 Orfeos Street to Komotini Town Hall: 4th Lampadidromos, Konstantinos Baniotis (High Jump).
From the City Hall to the junction of Sismanoglou and Zymvrakaki streets: 5th Lampadidromos, Haroun Molla (Cycling).
The two athletes chosen by the Olympic Torch Relay Committee, Kyriakos Amoutzas and Dimitris Baxevanidis, were also torchbearers.
At the touching ceremony at Komotini Town Hall, the Olympic anthem, the National Anthem of France and the National Anthem of Greece were played, while at the same time the corresponding flags were raised.
This was followed by greetings from the Mayor of Komotini, Ioannis Garani, representative of the “PARIS 2024” Organizing Committee and representative of the Hellenic Olympic Committee, and finally the customary exchange of gifts took place.
After the ceremony, the Olympic Flame continued its journey from Komotini to Alexandroupoli.
