Lighting of the Olympic Torch – Olympia, 26 November 2025

A new beginning in the light of Peace and Sport

On 26 November 2025, at the sacred site of Olympia in Greece, the original heart of the Games, the Olympic Torch will be lit, marking the start of the journey towards the Milan-Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics. An ancient ceremony is renewed, a universal symbol of light, hope and dialogue between peoples.

The San Marino Pierre de Coubertin Committee, together with the San Marino National Fair PlayCommittee, wish to celebrate this moment as a genuine reminder of the founding values of Olympism: the meeting of cultures, mutual respect, and brotherhood among athletes and citizens of the world. Values that Baron de Coubertin wanted to place at the heart of the modern Olympic project, so that sport could be a living force for humanity.

Among these values is the Olympic Truce, an ancient and noble tradition that called on peoples to suspend all conflict during the Games. Unfortunately, even during the most recent Summer Olympics in Paris, this truce was ignored and violated by the wars that continue to afflict the planet.

For this reason, today more than ever, the lighting of the Torch challenges and commits us.

It reminds us that sport can be a language of peace, a training ground for coexistence, a concrete opportunity to build bridges instead of walls.

The San Marino Pierre de Coubertin Committee and the San Marino National Fair Play Committee invite institutions, associations, young people, athletes and ordinary citizens to embrace the message of the Olympic Torch:

let us not give in to violence and indifference, but believe in the possibility of peace built together.

May this light, born in the land of Olympia, reach the mountains of Milan-Cortina 2026 and from there illuminate the world:

‘a flame of friendship, respect and solidarity’.

Let us embrace the Olympic motto:

‘Citius, Altius, Fortius – Communiter.’

Faster, higher, stronger... together.

23.11.2025