OLYMPIC FLAME - LIGHTING AND DELIVERING CEREMONIES

OLYMPIC FLAME

Lighting the cauldron with the olympic flame in ancient Olympia

      Greece is the center of attention for the whole world these days and thank God it's not just about its economic crisis and political instability. It's because of the Olympic Games.

      In the short video following you can watch some scenes from the lighting of the Olympic flame that occured on May 10. As with every Olympics since their restart in 1896 it takes place at the birthplace of the ancient Olympics in Ancient Olympia in the west Peloponnisos area. An ancient ceremony that heralds the start of the torch relay which will culminate with the opening ceremony on July 27 in London, UK.

      Actress Ino Menegaki, dressed as a high priestess, stood before the 2,600-year-old Temple of Hera and after an invocation to Apollo, the ancient Greeks' Sun God, used a mirror to focus the sun's rays and light a torch.
  
      After the choreographed ceremony, the priestess handed the flame to the first torchbearer, Greek swimmer and Olympic silver medalist Spyros Gianniotis. He was the first of 490 torchbearers who carried the flame across 1800 miles of Greek soil before handing the flame to London organizers on May 17.

      Here are some photos from the formal ceremony of delivering the Olympic Flame to the host country. This took place in Athens' Panathenaico Stadium (Kalimarmaro - where the first modern games were held in 1896).

Entry of the two flags (Greece and United Kingdom) in the Panathenaico Stadium

The torch was presented to Princess Anne by the president of the Hellenic Olympic Committee, Spyros Capralos.



David Bekham attended the Olympic Flame Handover Ceremony in Athens.