PyeongChang 2018 Olympic flame starts journey from Games' birthplace

Actresses with the flame during the Olympic flame lighting ceremony for the Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympics in ancient Olympia, Greece, on Oct 24, 2017. [Photo/Agencies]

Both the Greek hosts and Bach wholeheartedly wished great success to the PyeongChang Games.

"Our founder, Pierre de Coubertin, once said that the Olympic Games are a pilgrimage to the past and an act of faith in the future," Bach said.

The first South Korean torchbearer who received the flame burning for the Feb. 9-25 Winter Olympics from the Greek athlete was veteran football player Park Ji-sung.

"It is a great honor for me to represent my country and be the first runner from South Korea...I am very excited to watch the Olympics," he told Xinhua after the event.

The first leg of the relay across Greece will end next week in Athens. The Sacred Flame will be delivered on Oct 31 to South Korean organizers in a handover ceremony at the marble Panathinaic stadium which hosted the first modern Olympic Games in 1896.

The second leg of the relay in South Korea will involve 7,500 torchbearers and 2,018 support runners across its 2,018 km journey to the PyeongChang Olympic Stadium on Feb 9.