ROME (AP) — A preliminary cauldron was lit by the Olympic flame at Italy’s presidential palace on Friday as the countdown to the Milan Cortina Winter Games approached the two-months-to-go mark.

International Olympic Committee president Kirsty Coventry and Italy President Sergio Mattarella were in attendance for the ceremony.

Organizers specified the cauldron is not the official Olympic one that will be lit at the opening ceremony but a version dedicated to the torch relay.

The flame touched down in Italy on Thursday following a handover in Greece.

The next Olympics will be held Feb. 6-22 across a wide swath of northern Italy.

A 63-day torch relay throughout Italy starts on Saturday from Rome’s statue-lined Stadio dei Marmi.

Olympic swimming champion Gregorio Paltrinieri is scheduled to be the first of 10,001 torchbearers.

The flame was lit on Nov. 26 in Ancient Olympia, the site of the ancient games that inspired the modern Olympic movement.

The ceremony concluded with a flyover by the Italian Air Force’s acrobatic unit Frecce Tricolori.

It’s the first time in nearly 20 years — since the 2006 Turin Games — that Italy has hosted the flame.

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AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics