from the official
website of the Olympics
With
only 78 days until the
Opening Ceremony of the
London 2012 Olympic
Games, the Olympic flame
was today lit at Olympia
during a ceremony
organised by the
Hellenic Olympic
Committee (HOC). The
lighting symbolically
marks the beginning of
the Torch Relay that
will bring the flame to
the Olympic Stadium in
London on 27 July.
In line with tradition,
the flame was lit,
following the
time-honoured ritual of
using the sun’s rays and
a parabolic mirror, by a
High Priestess - Ino
Menegaki - at the Temple
of Hera in Ancient
Olympia. The priestess
then entered the Ancient
Olympic Stadium, in a
procession choreographed
by Artemis Ignatiou, and
used the flame to ignite
the torch of the first
runner of the Relay,
Spyros Gianniotis. A
British-born Greek open
water swimming world
champion and three-time
Olympian, Gianniotis
then transferred the
flame to Alex Loukos,
one of London 2012’s
young ambassadors in
Singapore in 2005, who
has Greek heritage and
lives in the London
borough of Newham.
The Olympic flame will
now begin an eight-day
journey across Greece,
travelling to the island
of Crete before going to
Piraeus, Thessalonica,
Xanthi and Larissa among
other areas before
arriving in the
Panathenaic Stadium in
Athens, site of the
first modern Olympic
Games in 1896, on 17 May
for the official Olympic
Flame Handover Ceremony.
The Olympic flame will
then be flown by plane
to RNAS Culdrose in
Great Britain on 18 May
before the London 2012
Olympic Torch Relay –
presented by Coca-Cola,
Lloyds TSB and Samsung -
gets underway at Land’s
End on 19 May. The flame
will visit more than
1,000 villages, towns
and cities in the UK
during its journey,
covering some 8,000
miles over 70 days, as
it is carried by 8,000
inspirational
torchbearers. The flame
will end its journey at
the Olympic Stadium on
27 July for the lighting
of the cauldron at the
Opening Ceremony,
signifying the start of
the
London 2012 Olympic
Games.
In the presence of the
President of the
Hellenic Olympic
Committee, Mr Spyros
Capralos; the Chairman
of the London Organising
Committee for the
Olympic Games, Sebastian
Coe; the Mayor of
Ancient Olympia,
Efthymios Kotzas; and
the Chairman of the
HOC’s Olympic Torch
Relay Commission, Spyros
Zannias, IOC President
Jacques Rogge said in
his speech: “With this
ceremony, we begin the
final countdown to a
dream that came to life
seven years ago in
Singapore, when London
was selected to host the
2012 Games. The energy
that passes from the sun
to the Olympic flame
will light a torch that
will travel from this
birthplace of the
ancient Olympic Games to
the country that
invented modern sport
and the spirit of fair
play, heralding the
opening of the 2012
London Games on 27
July.”
“As the Olympic torch
travels the width and
breadth of the United
Kingdom on its way to
the Olympic Stadium in
London, its powerful
symbolism and the
inspiring stories of
many of the torchbearers
will touch hearts and
fire imaginations around
the world,” Rogge added.
In recognition of the
Olympic values of
friendship, excellence
and respect, the United
Nations has approved a
resolution calling on
nations to build a
peaceful and better
world through sport and
the Olympic ideal. The
resolution is the modern
version of the ancient
Olympic Truce – the
Ekecheiria – that
allowed safe passage to
the Games by competitors
and spectators. The
Olympic Torch Relay that
started today at Olympia
for the London 2012
Olympic Games will allow
the people of the world
to be inspired by this
message of peace and
unity.
Watch video - Ceremony
of the lighting of the
Olympic flame.
Video streaming by Ustream