Fresh off his re-election in October, Italian Mayor Giuseppe Sala confirmed he will travel to Beijing to take part in the ceremonial handoff for the next Olympic Games. It is tradition for leaders from both cities to be present for the passing of the baton to its new host venue.
Sala told the Il Giorno newspaper in Milan- “I will have to go to Beijing, in February and March for the passage of the flag. It is an important moment because it marks the official passing of the baton for the Olympics and Paralympics at a global level, and therefore it will mean that we will already be in the Olympic spirit.”
With the recent calls for a diplomatic boycott of the games by some G7 nations, the European Union (EU) will meet today to discuss the issue further. Italy has already expressed they will not be issuing any form of a diplomatic boycott of the Beijing Games, and it appears many EU nations feel the same.
The mayor of Cortina d’Ampezzo, Gianpietro Gedina, and the president of the Italian Olympic Committee Giovanni Malago have not publicly stated if they are also planning to go to Beijing.
“We will see what we are going to do with the mayor of Cortina d’Ampezzo,” said Sala. “Giovanni Malago is in Milan and I will try to talk to him about how to proceed.”
The tradition of a flag handover from one host city to another at the closing ceremony, dates back to the 1920 Olympic Games in Antwerp, Belgium.
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