Olympic Flame begins 'Journey of Harmony'

High priestess kindles the Olympic torch.

(OLYMPIA, March 24) -- The Beijing Olympic Flame began the "Journey of Harmony" on Monday. In the Torch Lighting Ceremony that began at 11:00 a.m. (GMT +2), in Olympia, Greece, the High Priestess successfully lit the sacred flame by the traditional ritual of using only the rays of the sun and a parabolic mirror.

Afterwards, the priestesses entered the Ancient Olympic Stadium, and the High Priestess, portrayed by Greek actress Maria Nafpliotou, used the flame to light the torch of the first torchbearer, Alexandros Nikolaidis, the Greek Olympic Taekwondo silver medalist in 2004.

High Priestess Maria Nafpliotou successfully lights a flame pot.

Nikolaidis then made his way to the Coubertin monument, beginning the first leg of the torch relay.

China's Luo Xuejuan, a retired swimmer and gold medalist in the last Olympic Games, received the flame from Nikolaidis and covered two legs of the relay before handing the flame off to renowned table tennis champion, Deng Yaping. Unforeseen circumstances prevented originally scheduled third torchbearer from participating in the relay.

The ceremony ended at about 12:30 p.m. (GMT +2). Present at the ceremony were Greek President Karolos Papoulias and the President of the Hellenic Olympic Committee, Minos X. Kyriakou.

IOC President Jacques Rogge underlined "that the 2008 Olympic Torch Relay wants to be a journey of harmony, bringing the message of peace to people of different nationalities, cultures and creeds".

In his address, BOCOG President Liu Qi thanked the people of Greece for all their work and for preparations for the ceremony and the relay in Greece, expressing hope that the Olympic Flame would light the way to peace, friendship and progress.