A big day is coming up for Dakar 2026: on Thursday, the Youth Olympic Games flame will be lit in Athens. Immediately afterward, the first torchbearers will pass the famous torch to each other, and it will be officially handed over to the YOG Organizing Committee, which will then take it back to Senegal. In the background, the Panathenaic Stadium, the epicenter of the first modern Olympic Games in 1896, will be a legendary venue that, beyond its ceremonial role, will soon once again play a sporting part.
"Preserving our heritage is an absolute priority."
The Hellenic Olympic Committee has undertaken extensive work in recent months to restore and modernize the venue. It has installed a new athletics track, meeting World Athletics standards, with the ambition of hosting top-level international competitions. A modern and improved competition surface, worthy of its history and international reputation ", said the COH. It also carried out a thorough cleaning of the marble surfaces and installed a new lighting system to improve the functionality and aesthetics of the Stadium ».
« The restoration and modernization of the historic Panathenaic Stadium, venue for the first Olympic Games of the modern era, will allow it to host a Diamond League athletics meeting in 2027., confided the president of the COH, Isidoros Kouvelos, during the launch of the works. The preservation of our heritage must remain an absolute priority. Through this work, the Hellenic Olympic Committee reaffirms its ongoing commitment to protecting, modernizing, and promoting this unique stadium, built entirely of white marble. »
Work has also been underway since April at the Athens Olympic swimming pool as part of a broader plan to modernize sports facilities for Greek sport and future generations of athletes. Left to decay for many years, the Olympic pool is undergoing a complete renovation and is expected to be completed in spring 2027. It will then be made available to the national swimming and water polo teams.
« We have set ourselves a major and ambitious challenge, a triple challenge: to bring the country's main Olympic facilities back into service, the Schinias rowing centerThe Panathenaic Stadium and the Olympic swimming pool in Athens. Today, we can proudly say that this challenge is becoming a reality. It hasn't been easy. But it's taking shape. And that's what matters.Kouvelos stated in April. The next step is to create modern accommodation facilities for our athletes at the Olympic Stadium — a space that will support them in their daily efforts. "It is not impossible that Greece will come back strong, both as host and in the race for medals, in the years to come!"
