2 torch relay : First day of Olympic Torch Relay concludes

The first day of the Olympic Torch Relay successfully concluded, with the Olympic Flame lit in Mesologi. Heavy rain did not affect the enthusiasm of the Greek people. They gathered together, welcoming the Olympic torch.

In the Torch Lighting Ceremony that began at 11:00 a.m. (GMT +2) on March 24, in Olympia, Greece, the High Priestess successfully lit the sacred flame in a traditional ritual, using only the rays of the sun and a parabolic mirror.

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. Nikolaidis ran with the torch to the Coubertin monument, beginning the first leg of the relay in Greece

From March 24-29, the torch will travel across Greece, ending at Panathinaiko Stadium, the site of the first modern Olympic Games in 1896, where the flame will be handed over to BOCOG.

At 20:30 (GMT +2), the Greek torchbearer held the Olympic torch and entered a designated place in Mesologi. Although it was raining heavily, the torch relay still attracted many Greek fans holding Chinese and Greek national flags in their hands. The lighting of the Olympic flame in Mesologi marked the conclusion of the first day of the Olympic Torch Relay.

On March 25, the Olympic Torch Relay will start from MESOLOGI, via AGRINIO, AMFILOCHIA, MENIDI, and ARTA, and finally arrive at IOANNINA.