WINTER EYOF FLAME GOES TO BRASOV

The Olympic Flame, which will burn throughout the Brasov EYOWF (17th 22nd February), arrived in Bucharest last weekend , brought by a delegation including Octavian Morariu, the President of the Romanian Olympic and Sports Committee, Nicolae Banicioiu, the Minister of Youth and Sports, and George Scripcaru, the Mayor of Brasov.
The Olympic Flame, symbol of the modern Olympics, was lit by sunrays at the Panathenaic marble stadium in Athens on Saturday, in the presence of Greek and Romanian officials, from where it was transported by plane to Bucharest in a special lantern.
“It is a great joy, honour and pride to bring the Olympic Flame to Romania,” said NOC President Octavian Morariu. “For the first time, the Olympic Flame has been lit for Romania on the occasion of a very emotional ceremony, at the former Olympic stadium, yesterday in Athens. We are obviously happy, but at the same time we know we have a very difficult task to accomplish. In two weeks the Games will begin and we will have to live up to the expectations, not only of those here, but also of our friends in the Olympic World. We thank all those who are involved in this great project. We have put together a strong team, that has been working on it for a while now, and we are confident on the one hand, and very motivated on the other, for it to succeed.”
After its arrival at Bucharest airport, the Flame was put on show on the esplanade in front of the NOC HQ, where the Olympic Torch will be lit at a special ceremony before starting the relay to Brasov. Swordsman Rares Dumitrescu, silver medallists at the London Summer Olympics 2012, and his coach Michael Covaliu, will take part in the relay.
The Olympic Torch will arrive in Brasov on the 17th of February, when the 2013 EYOWF Opening Ceremony will take place in the presence of IOC President Jacques Rogge and EOC President Patrick Hickey.
The competitions will take place between the 17th and the 22nd of February at the sport venues of Rasnov, for ski jumping, Predeal for cross-country skiing and snowboard contests, and Poiana Brasov for the figure skating events short-track and alpine skiing, whilst the Brasov Olympic Rink will host the hockey tournament and the biathlon competitions will take place at Cheile Gradistei.