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Heavy rain abated and a rainbow could be seen as the flame wascarried into the Panathenaic Stadium – host of the firstmodern Olympic Games in 1896 – by Christina Giazitzidou,Greece's world champion in rowing, who held aloft an olivebranch of peace in her free hand. Celebrated athletes carried the flame around the athletics track ina relay before the final torchbearers, Greek weightlifter Pyrros Dimas and Chinese gymnast Li Ning – who lit the Olympic cauldronat Beijing 2008 – lit the cauldron in the centre of thestadium, formally ending the Greek leg of the relay. The British delegation included London 2012 chief Lord Sebastian Coe , Olympics Minister Hugh Robertson and London Mayor Boris Johnson. Lord Coe told the thousands-strong crowd that millions of peopleacross the UK were working to get the UK ready to welcome theworld, and said the torch would touch every region of the nation onits 70-day relay. "The story of the flame will be about those that carry it– their stories will inspire," he said. Princess Anne said earlier the relay was likely to stokeexcitement for the Games in the UK, as it had in Canada ahead ofthe Vancouver Winter Olympics. "When the flame arrives and the torch relay starts to getunder way, that is a physical moment in terms of the processtowards the Games. "Certainly in Canada they were amazed by the effect that thathad and I think that may well be true for Britain as well." Boris Johnson said the torch relay democratized the Olympicexperience. "It's lighting the touch paper of a 70-day fuse thatwill then go off in the great pyrotechnics of the openingceremony," he said. Boris Johnson said the key tests for London 2012 were both whetherthe Games were well-received, and whether they left a legacy forLondon and the UK. Hugh Robertson accepted that putting on the Games was a hugeresponsibility, but said if London 2012 was a success it would be agreat advertisement for both London and the UK. Also attending the ceremony were London 2012 ambassador DavidBeckham and five young people chosen by Games organizers LOCOG andthe British Council for their commitment to sport and their role inpromoting the Olympic values of friendship, excellence and respectwithin their school or college. Hailing from different national regions, the youngsters are part ofLondon 2012′s Get Set education network and school linkingprogrammes run by the British Council. After spending Thursday night at the British embassy in Athens, theflame will be brought to the UK by the British delegation on BA2012on Friday evening, where there will be a welcoming ceremony at RNASCuldrose in Cornwall. The flame – symbolizing purity because it comes directly fromthe sun – was kindled at a 10 May ceremony in Olympia byactress Ino Menegaki, playing a high priestess, who caught thesun's rays in a parabolic mirror. That ceremony took place amid the Temple of Hera ruins, by theancient Olympic Games stadium. The torch was then carried 1,800 miles through Greece by 500torchbearers on a week-long route circling the country andtravelling out to the islands of Crete and Kastelorizo. The flame was then "laid to rest" in a ceremony at theAcropolis on Wednesday. Ahead of Beijing 2008, the Olympic torch traversed the globe in arelay dogged by pro-Tibet, democracy and anti-China protests. The 2012 relay has taken place with the backdrop of economicturbulence in Greece, which has been left without a government andpossibly on the brink of leaving the eurozone by the financialcrisis. Greece has seen huge demonstrations of social unrest in previousmonths, amid efforts to reach a deal with the European Union on abail-out for its economy. A flame was first lit at the modern Olympics at the Amsterdam 1928summer Games, but it was not until Berlin in 1936 that a torchrelay route was set out from Greece to Germany. I am an expert from softenerflakes.com, while we provides the quality product, such as China Acid Cellulase Enzyme , China Hydrophilic Softener, Amino Silicone,and more.
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