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OLYMPIA, Greece, April 21, 2016 – Brazilian volleyball great
Giovane Gavio was today given the honour of being the first
Brazilian to run with the Olympic Torch as part of the Rio de
Janeiro 2016 Olympic Games Torch Relay.
The Torch Relay began in Olympia with the lighting of the flame
ceremony where Greek gymnast Eleftherios Petrounias lit the
torch before handing it to Giovane.
Giovane's run will start the flame on its journey, which
features 450 torch bearers carrying it over 2,200 kilometres in
Greece. From there the flame will travel to the headquarters of
the International Olympic Committee in Lausanne.
It will arrive in Brazil on May 3 and from the national capital
Brasilia will visit 328 towns and cities in Brazil ahead of its
arrival in Rio and eventual lighting at the Rio de Janeiro
Olympic Stadium having featured 12,000 torch bearers.
"It will be very exciting to be a torch bearer in Greece as it
is sacred ground for the Olympic Games," he said ahead of
carrying the torch.
Giovane won gold at the Barcelona 1992 and Athens 2004 Olympic
Games and he was one of the torch bearers for Athens 2004 when
he carried the torch through Rio. |
