NAGOYA: The torch relay for the 20th Asian Games Aichi-Nagoya 2026 began in Nagoya on Saturday. The games are scheduled to start on Sept. 19.
About 1,000 runners will carry the flame across 40 municipalities in Aichi Prefecture, where most of the games will take place, leading up to the day before the opening.
Saori Yoshida, a three-time Olympic women's wrestling gold medallist, took the role of the first runner, carrying the flame with her as she departed from the grounds of Nagoya Castle.
“I hope the passion of the runners gives energy to all the athletes who are taking part,” Yoshida said.
At a ceremony held prior to the start of the relay, former Japan women's football player Homare Sawa took the stage with a flame that had been lit at the Japan National Stadium in Tokyo, while former professional tennis player Kimiko Date appeared with one from Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima.
Takeru Goto, a member of the boy band INI and an official ambassador for the games, generated a new flame by holding a torch to a concave mirror, then brought all three flames together to create the official flame. - Japan News/ANN
