Flame for Rio 2016 to be lit April 21 in Olympia

Athens: The Olympic Flame for the 2016 Rio Games will be lit on April 21 in Ancient Olympia, Greek officials announced Tuesday.

Greek Olympic Committee president Spyros Capralos and Olympic Torch Relay Commission chairman Giannis Karras told a press conference that after a relay the flame will be handed over to Rio officials on April 27 in a ceremony at the Panathenaic Stadium where the first modern Olympics were held in 1896.

Actors in ancient Greek costume will invoke the god Apollo in the ruins of the 2,600-year-old Temple of Hera in Ancient Olympia, using a parabolic mirror to harness the sun's rays and kindle a flame on the torch before a relay that will take it around most of Greece.