Olympic Flame Warms up Slovenia
The Olympic Flame made a stop in Slovenia for the first time in 22 years on Friday. Received first by Jure Franko, the first Slovenian to win a medal at the Winter Olympics, it later toured Ljubljana in the care 20 different torchbearers.
The flame entered Slovenia at a square between Italy's Gorizia and Slovenia's Nova Gorica, and was handed to Jure Franko, the silver medalist in the giant slalom at the 1984 Sarajevo Winter Olympics.
Received by a cheering crowd, the torch reached the the Preseren Square, downtown Ljubljana, at 1.33 PM.
Addresses by Slovenian Olympic Committee President Janez Kocijancic and the Sports Minister Milan Zver pointed to the symbolic value of the flame, in Slovenia for the second time, and its message of peace.
The 20 torchbearers, who took the flame across Ljubljana, included famous Slovenian athletes, mostly Olympic medal winners such as rower Luka Spik, sailor Vasilij Zbogar and skier Katja Koren.
After Slovenia, the flame, which began its tour in Rome on 8 December and will conclude it in Turin on 10 February for the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games, is to travel to Austria. It will also visit Switzerland and France.
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