By Maria Spiliopoulou
ATHENS, Oct. 19 (Xinhua) -- South Korean veteran footballer Park Ji-Sung will be the second torchbearer to carry the Olympic Flame for the PyeongChang Winter Olympics, the Hellenic Olympic Committee (HOC) announced on Thursday.
Park will take the flame from the Greek cross country ski and biathlon champion Apostolos Angelis who will be the first athlete to receive it from a Greek actress playing the role of the ancient Greek High Priestess during the lighting ceremony on Oct. 24 in ancient Olympia.
At the site where the Olympic Games was born 25 centuries ago, the Olympic Flame will be lit from the sunrays in the presence of Greek President Prokopis Pavlopoulos, South Korean Prime Minister Lee Nak-Yon, the President of the International Olympic Committee Thomas Bach, and other officials, according to an e-mailed HOC press release.
Park, 36, was a footballer who had an outstanding international career in PSV Eindhoven and Manchester United, before retiring in 2014.
He participated in the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games, and was a member of the South Korean team that finished fourth at the 2002 FIFA World Cup.
Starting its journey from the ancient stadium of Olympia, the Olympic Flame will cover 2.129 kilometers across Greece, to be carried by more than 500 torchbearers.
On Oct. 31 during a handover ceremony at Panathenaic stadium, the venue of the first modern 1896 Olympics, Greece will pass the flame to the Organizing Committee "PyeongChang 2018."
