Olympics 2026: Annalena Baerbock carries the Olympic flame by means of Milan for the UN | EUROtoday

As a young person, Annalena Baerbock was a trampoline gymnast and received bronze on the German Championships. But it wasn’t sufficient for the Olympics. Nevertheless, the Green politician had the distinctive likelihood to hold the Olympic flame earlier than the opening of the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy.

Baerbock has been Chairwoman of the UN General Assembly since final September and took half within the opening ceremony as a consultant of the United Nations. The 45-year-old shared a video on Instagram by which she was offered with the Olympic flame by basketball participant Yao Ming and carried a torch by means of Milan. Baerbock is wearing an Olympic sports activities go well with.

“I had the honor of carrying the Olympic flame for the United Nations,” Baerbock says within the video.

“In a time of global fragmentation, the Winter Olympics in Milano Cortina remind us of our shared belonging to humanity – and what is possible when we follow the same rules,” Baerbock wrote in English. “Justice, respect and a common purpose guide every competition, just as they underpin international cooperation.”

Baerbock highlighted in her contribution that the International Olympic Committee is being led by a lady, Kirsty Coventry, for the primary time, and that girls make up 47 p.c of the athletes on the Winter Games. “The most gender-equal Winter Olympics in history,” commented Baerbock.

The Winter Olympics opened on Friday night in Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo. For the primary time, the Olympic flame was lit in two locations on the similar time: on the Arch of Peace in Milan by the Italian ski legends Tomba and Deborah Compagnoni and within the heart of Cortina by the Italian Olympic ski champion Goggia.