Olympics: London prepares with Olympic torch set to be lit
9 May 2012 11:32 PM GMT
The traditional ceremony to light the Olympic flame takes place at the ancient site of Olympia in Greece on Thursday, signalling the final countdown to the start of the Games in London.
An actress playing a high priestess will light the flame using the direct rays of the sun, in a solemn occasion attended by the president of the International Olympic Committee, Jacques Rogge, as well London organising committee chief Sebastian Coe.
Greek President Carolos Papoulias is also expected to attend, despite the debt-crippled country in political paralysis after Sunday's parliamentary elections, which saw parties hostile to austerity measures gain ground.
After giving thanks to the god Apollo, 'king of the sun and the idea of light', the flame will be handed over to the first relay runner, Greece's open water swimming champion Spyros Gianniotis.
He will then pass it to 19-year-old British boxer Alexander Loukos, who is of Greek descent, and who got himself switched to sitting at a desk at the electricians where he is an apprentice so he didn't pick up an injury.
Gianniotis said after the full rehearsal in the ruins of the Temple of Hera on Wednesday that the torch ceremony was 'a very big moment' for him, adding: "It is very moving.
'I am trembling from the emotions. It is the highest honour for an athlete to do this.'
The ceremony marks the start of a week-long torch relay, which will take it to five major Greek archaeological sites, including the Acropolis, before it arrives at the old Olympic stadium in Athens, site of the first modern Games in 1896.
A British delegation will receive the flame at a night-time ceremony on May 17.
The last flame-bearers in Greece will be the weight-lifter Pyrros Dimas and the Chinese gymnast Li Ning, who lit the cauldron at the last Olympics in Beijing in 2008.
The London Olympic Games torch will tour the United Kingdom and also visit the Republic of Ireland before it arrives at the Olympic Stadium in east London on July 27 to a worldwide television audience of billions.
The torch's route in Britain starts on May 19 at Land's End, the southernmost tip of England to begin an 12,875-kilometre journey.
From June 3-7, it will visit Northern Ireland and then the Republic of Ireland -- the only country outside the United Kingdom on the torch route.
An actress playing a high priestess will light the flame using the direct rays of the sun, in a solemn occasion attended by the president of the International Olympic Committee, Jacques Rogge, as well London organising committee chief Sebastian Coe.
Greek President Carolos Papoulias is also expected to attend, despite the debt-crippled country in political paralysis after Sunday's parliamentary elections, which saw parties hostile to austerity measures gain ground.
After giving thanks to the god Apollo, 'king of the sun and the idea of light', the flame will be handed over to the first relay runner, Greece's open water swimming champion Spyros Gianniotis.
He will then pass it to 19-year-old British boxer Alexander Loukos, who is of Greek descent, and who got himself switched to sitting at a desk at the electricians where he is an apprentice so he didn't pick up an injury.
Gianniotis said after the full rehearsal in the ruins of the Temple of Hera on Wednesday that the torch ceremony was 'a very big moment' for him, adding: "It is very moving.
'I am trembling from the emotions. It is the highest honour for an athlete to do this.'
The ceremony marks the start of a week-long torch relay, which will take it to five major Greek archaeological sites, including the Acropolis, before it arrives at the old Olympic stadium in Athens, site of the first modern Games in 1896.
A British delegation will receive the flame at a night-time ceremony on May 17.
The last flame-bearers in Greece will be the weight-lifter Pyrros Dimas and the Chinese gymnast Li Ning, who lit the cauldron at the last Olympics in Beijing in 2008.
The London Olympic Games torch will tour the United Kingdom and also visit the Republic of Ireland before it arrives at the Olympic Stadium in east London on July 27 to a worldwide television audience of billions.
The torch's route in Britain starts on May 19 at Land's End, the southernmost tip of England to begin an 12,875-kilometre journey.
From June 3-7, it will visit Northern Ireland and then the Republic of Ireland -- the only country outside the United Kingdom on the torch route.
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