(ATR) May 10 is the date for the flame lighting in Olympia, site of the first Games 3,000 years ago.
As is the tradition, the ceremony features a troupe of male and female performers under the direction of a high priestess, taking place at midday. The focused rays of the sun through a parabolic mirror are supposed to kindle the flame.
A rehearsal on May 9 will light a backup flame in case the weather prevents the flame from being lit at the May 10 ceremony.
As many as 5,000 spectators could turn up for the ceremony at the stadium once used for footraces in the early Games.
The IOC President, leaders of the Hellenic Olympic Committee and London 2012 chair Sebastian Coe will speak prior to the lighting ceremony.
English-born Greek swimmer Spyros Gianniotis will be the first to carry the flame from the ceremony, launching an eight day, 1800-mile relay through Greece, including the island of Crete.
HOC President Spyros Capralos says sponsors will cover the costs of the relay, which he says won’t be affected by the economic drama faced by the country.
After experiencing anti-China protestors four years ago in Olympia, relay organizers will be watching security details more closely this year. Protest groups have said they will try to stage demonstrations against the London relay.
Coe and a delegation from London head back to Greece May 16 to prepare for the flame transfer ceremony two days later in the Panathenaic Stadium, site of the 1896 Olympics.
Li Ning, who lit the cauldron for the Beijing Olympics will be the second-to-last runner in the Greek relay. He will pass the flame on to Greek weightlifter Pyrros Dimas.
The London team will head from the sundown ceremony to the airport for a chartered flight to carry the flame to Land’s End in England’s west. The first of 8,000 torchbearers will carry the flame from there across the country to opening ceremony July 27.
Written by Ed Hula.
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