Blog - The Beckham Effect at Torch Handover; Olympic Flame to U.K.

(ATR) London 2012 chairman Sebastian Coe thanked Greece for "laying on this British weather" at the torch handover ceremony. But the downpour failed to dim the enthusiasm of the thousands who had gathered at the Panathenaic Stadium.

The arrival of IOC member Princess Anne in a buttoned-down raincoat, Coe, sports minister Hugh Robertson and London mayor Boris Johnson was greeted with warm applause. But it was "Sir" David Beckham, the former England football captain and Olympic ambassador, who drew the biggest cheers. New hair do and facial topiary notwithstanding, Beckham never imagined he would have been billed as "Sir" on three occasions by the announcer. All he did was smile a bit and walk in and out of the stadium.

As the rain fell and the crowds sheltered under a sea of umbrellas, the scene was crying out for "Always look on the bright side" as a musical backdrop. But the rain subsided after the national anthems of Greece and Britain and the leaden clouds shifted giving way to blue skies as the first torchbearer entered the stadium.

There were several handovers before the cauldron was lit and the priestesses performed traditional dances. Spyros Capralos and Coe delivered speeches that went to the heart of what the Olympic flame symbolises. Coe's core message was that the torch would ignite passion for the Olympics and inspire a new generation of sportsmen and women.

"On its journey from this historic stadium to London's new Olympic stadium, the story of the flame wil be about those who carry it. Their stories will inspire. They are the stories of everyday people doing extraordinary things that all too often go unheralded," the double Olympic 1,500m champion said in his address.

The torch handover from Capralos to Princess Anne was a touching scene. The president of the British Olympic Association seemed genuinely moved as she accepted the Olympic flame that will travel on Friday evening to Cornwall in southwest England where it begins its U.K. trek at 7am BST Saturday.

It will travel on flight BA 2012, accompanied by Princess Anne, Beckham and other members of the London 2012 delegation as well as sponsor representatives and some 20 members of the British and international media.

At a British ambassador's receptionin Athens Thursday night, Mayor Johnson was in mischievous mood, cracking jokes about the Olympic flame to ripples of laughter. He said the torch would be traveling to England in a custard-colored comet; the other day he reference the gold-liveried plane as a creme brulee. Johnson said it was "the first time a naked flame has been on a plane since the smoking ban".

Warming to his theme and the chuckling guests, he said the 70 days of torch relay fumes would finally detonate in the pyrotechnics of the Olympic stadium at the opening ceremony on July 27.

Also working the room, uttering many fewer words, was Beckham; both Robertson and Coe sneaked by the Los Angeles Galaxy player largely unnoticed by an audience in awe of his mere presence. The camera phones were out in force to capture the bequiffed one, who is likely to appear on several other occasions in the run-up to the Games and may even star for Team GB's men's U-23 football team if picked as one of three over-age players.

On Friday morning, Beckham visits a school in Athens as part of his London 2012 duties.

He'll also find himself the center of attention on the plane bound for Cornwall later today.

The British Airways pilots heading to the Royal Naval Air Station Culdrose with Olympic torch and a spare flame in seats 1A and 1B tell Around the Rings that they have been asked by the BBC to touch down on this evening at 7.25pm and 30 secs BST.

The pilots said there was no danger in the plane being late - they did a test run in March - but suggested that meeting the demands of the televised coverage would depend on the weather conditions. They told me the difficulty is not the narrow landing strip but taxiing in such a small space to position the plane for TV pictures. The BBC is screening the torch's arrival on The One Show.

ATR is told that a crowd of more than 500 will be at Culdrose to watch the flame leave the plane and the brief ceremony that will follow.

Three-times sailing gold medalist Ben Ainslie is the first of 8,000 torchbearers who will take the flame 8,000 miles around the U.K.; he is due to run at 7.08am local time on Saturday, passing the torch to Anastasia Swallow, an 18-year-old from St Ives who has represented GB four times internationally as a member of the Junior British Surf Team. Day one of the torch relay ends in Plymouth. Coe will hope it gets there on team so he can watch his beloved Chelsea play Bayern Munich in the Champions League final Saturday night.

Reported by Mark Bisson in Athens

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