GREECE: The Olympic torch begins its journey to London after the flame was lit in Olympia

Record ID: 330678

  • Title: GREECE: The Olympic torch begins its journey to London after the flame was lit in Olympia
  • Date: 11th May 2012
  • Summary: SLATE INFORMATION
  • Embargoed: 26th May 2012 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Greece
  • Country: Greece
  • Topics: Sports
  • Reuters ID: LVA6TCF0W392UXQ0HRURT78LZUQM
  • Story Text: The countdown to the London Olympics began with the kindling of the Games torch on Thursday (May 10), sparking a relay that will culminate with the lighting of the Olympic stadium's cauldron at the opening ceremony on July 27.
    Liverpool-born Greek swimmer Spyros Gianniotis started the seven-day Greek leg of the relay before the flame is handed over to London organisers on May 17 and flown to Britain a day later.
    The second torchbearer was 19-year-old Alexander Loukos, a Briton of Greek origin, with Chris Theodoropoulos, a local basketball player, and Japan's Yuy Umehara, also among the first to run with the famed flame.
    "It was a very good feeling. I feel excited about what I did. It's a great honour to do something like that and I'm amazed about the people that are here," Theodoropoulos said.
    A strong police presence around the ancient site, and in the town of Olympia, made sure the event went off without a hitch.
    Four years ago human rights activists briefly disrupted the Beijing Olympics ceremony.
    People watched and applauded the runners as they made their way through Olympia, an obviously popular tourist destination in Greece thanks to its link with the Olympic Games.
    The 70-day British leg of the relay will use 8,000 torchbearers and travel 12,800 km around the country, taking in 1,018 communities and the 1,085-metre summit of Snowdon, before ending inside the Olympic stadium on the opening day of the Games.
    The relay will also take in landmarks around Britain with the flame travelling by canal boat, cable car, tram, steam train, hot air balloon and even motorcycle sidecar on the Isle of Man TT course.
    More than 95 percent of the population will be within an hour of the route.
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