TOKYO, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- The first flame for the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games was kindled at Tokyo's National Stadium on Tuesday, marking the start of a series of flame-lighting events ahead of the torch relay.
Aichi Governor Hideaki Omura, president of the Asian Games organizing committee, attended the ceremony alongside Japanese Olympic Committee President Seiko Hashimoto and other officials.
Japanese sprinter Yoshihide Kiryu, representing the athletes, collected the flame beside the cauldron used at the 1958 Asian Games in Tokyo, the first edition of the continental event hosted by Japan.
Omura described the ceremony as an important and symbolic step in the process of collecting the three flames that will be combined for the torch relay.
A second flame-lighting ceremony will be held Thursday in Hiroshima, which hosted the Asian Games in 1994, before a third flame is collected at Nagoya Castle on Saturday.
The flames from Tokyo, Hiroshima and Nagoya will then be united to form the official Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games flame and begin the torch relay.
Three-time Olympic wrestling champion Saori Yoshida will serve as the relay's first torchbearer. The flame will travel through all 40 municipalities in Aichi Prefecture and all 16 wards of Nagoya, with around 1,000 torchbearers expected to take part.
The 20th Asian Games will be held from September 19 to October 4, featuring 43 sports and athletes from 45 countries and regions across Asia. ■
