When the Paris 2024 Olympics kick off July 26, one Jupiter resident will be partially to thank. Antonis Loudaros was selected by the Hellenic Olympic Committee to run with the Olympic Torch in ancient Delphi on April 20, part of the flame’s 11-day relay across Greece.
Loudaros was born in Athens and grew up near the Panathenaic Stadium, which was built for the first modern Olympic Games in 1896. “My great-grandfather Georgios Loudaros, a marble worker from the island of Anafi, worked for two years building this ancient stadium,” Loudaros says. “As a young man, I ran, jumped, and threw the shot put in and around the stadium. Citius, altius, fortius [Latin for faster, higher, stronger] was my inspiration.”
An Olympic activist since the 1990s, Loudaros has served as a volunteer for European world championships and Olympic Games and participated in Olympic educational seminars and world conferences. He has worked at track and field competitions in the United States and Greece, has participated in two World Conferences (2001 and 2004), was a driver for VIPs in the Athens 2004 Olympic Games, and has served as an assistant coach in the 1997 World Track and Field Championships—all on a volunteer basis.
“I live my life based on the Olympic ideals of the joy of exercising mind and body, educational values, and social responsibility to my family, my community, and my two countries,” says Loudaros.
Locally, Loudaros was a teacher and coach of gifted students in Palm Beach County for more than 35 years, encouraging participation in sports and the “mind sport” of chess. Now retired, he continues to substitute teach, coach chess at The Greene School in West Palm Beach, and organize chess sessions and tournaments.
Loudaros has been selected to participate in four other Olympic Torch relays (Atlanta 1996, Sydney 2000, Athens 2004, and Beijing 2008), but he says Paris is special: it’s the birthplace of Pierre de Coubertin, father of the modern Olympic Games. “This [was] my fifth Olympic Torch run and the most significant,” he adds.
Ancient Undertaking
The Olympic flame’s journey to the host city is one of the few traditions that has been preserved since antiquity. Here’s how the monthslong expedition typically unfolds.
1. A lighting ceremony takes place at the site of the ancient Olympic Games in Olympia. High priestesses or priests use a parabolic mirror to focus the sun’s rays and ignite the flame using a specially prepared torch.
2. The flame embarks on a relay across Greece, visiting significant historical and cultural sites along the way. The relay involves various runners, often chosen for their athletic achievements or contributions to society.
3. The flame is handed over to representatives from the host city of the Olympic Games in a symbolic ceremony celebrating the continuity of the Olympic Games across generations and cultures.
4. The flame departs Greece and begins its journey to the host city, transported by a series of runners and torchbearers through different countries. The intention is to spread the Olympic spirit and promote unity and friendship among nations.
5. The Olympic flame arrives at the host city, where it is used to light the cauldron during the opening ceremony. This moment symbolizes the start of the Olympic Games and the coming together of athletes from around the world to compete in the spirit of fair play and sportsmanship.
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