The Olympic Flame for the "London 2012" Olympic Games will be lit today May 10, 2012 in the traditional manner in Ancient Olympia.
The Ceremony will be attended by the President of the International Olympic Committee Dr. Jacques Rogge, the President of the Hellenic Olympic Committee Mr. Spyros Capralos, the Presidentof the Organizing Committee of the Olympic Games "London 2012", Lord Sebastian Coe, members of the International Olympic Committee, Greek and British officials, members of the Plenary Sessionof the Hellenic Olympic Committee and representatives of sports federations.
Ino Menegaki will light the Olympic Flame directly from rays of sun and then, after the ritual choreographed by Artemis Ignatiou, the sacred Light will be handed over to the first torchbearer, swimming world champion Spyros Gianniotis. The second torchbearer will be Alexander Loukos, a British national of Greek origin.
An eight-day Torch Relay around Greece will follow, ending on May 17 with the arrival of the Flame at the Panathenaic stadium at 19:00. It will be handed over to the delegation of the United Kingdom to continue its journey for the Olympic city of London. The last torchbearers will be the Olympic champions Pyrros Dimas and Li Ning.
Overall the Olympic flame will cover 2900 km in Greece, in the hands of 490 torchbearers. It will cross 26 provinces, 38 municipalities and 40 cities, visiting five archaeological sites, while 34 altar lighting ceremonies will be held in specific cities along the way.
May 10, 2012