Winter Games torch relay begins

Olympic swimming champion Gregorio Paltrinieri and fellow Summer athletes started the torch relay for the Milan Cortina Winter Games on Saturday — marking exactly two months before the Feb. 6 opening ceremony.

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Paltrinieri carried the sleek torch around the track of the statue-lined Stadio dei Marmi at the Foro Italico to begin a trek covering 12,000 kilometers (nearly 7,500 miles) that will wind its way through all 110 Italian provinces before reaching Milan's San Siro Stadium for the opening ceremony.

“It’s a pleasure to be part of the Olympic movement even if it’s Winter Olympics,” Paltrinieri said.