ROME (AP) — A preliminary cauldron was lit by the Olympic flame at Italy’s presidential palace on Friday as the countdown to the Milan Cortina Winter Games approached the two-months-to-go mark.

International Olympic Committee president Kirsty Coventry and Italy President Sergio Mattarella were in attendance for the ceremony.

“The Olympic flame is arriving to a nation that lives and breathes sport,” Coventry said in a speech. “The flame carries not just the hopes of athletes, but the dreams of all of those who believe in the power of sport."

Organizers specified the cauldron is not the official Olympic one that will be lit at the opening ceremony but a version dedicated to the torch relay.

The flame touched down in Italy on Thursday following a handover in Greece.

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