torch RELAY : Athens ready for sacred flame handover ceremony

On Day 6 of the Torch Relay in Greece, the sacred flame moved from Marathonas to Athens, where it will stay the night. On March 30, the Olympic torch will be ceremoniously handed over to representatives of BOCOG at the Panathenaikon Stadium.

On Saturday morning at 7:00, the flame took off from Lamia, passing through Amfiario before reaching Marathonas. From this famed city, torchbearers carried the flame onwards to Rafina, a city on the outskirts of Athens.

Fans were out in droves to welcome the sacred flame long before its arrival in the center of Athens. Greek, Chinese, and Olympic flags decorated the air. Nikitas Kaklamanis himself, the mayor of Athens, will be present to welcome the flame. Stavroula Kozompoli, captain of the women's water polo team from Greece that won the silver medal in the 2004 Olympics, will light the cauldron in the city.

Marathonas lies 26 miles away from Athens, and is the site of the most famous battle in the capital's history. In 490 BC, the Athenians rose up against the much larger Persian army, fighting a very bloody war which in the end they won. According to legend, Pheidippides, the winning team's fastest runner, was then sent to Athens to pronounce the victory. Upon reaching the city, after running at his highest speed for the 26 mile (42.2 km) journey, he shouted, "We have won!" and then promptly dropped dead from exhaustion.

In 1896, when the first modern-day Olympic Games was staged, planners decided to include the "marathon" race as a competitive event; athletes would test their endurance by running the same route (in length) that Pheidippides ran to serve his country.

Along this historic road from Marathonas to Athens, five Chinese citizens will participate in the torch relay, including Zheng Xiyuan (who works as a counselor in the Chinese embassy to Greece), Qiao Li, Zhou Meifen, Cheng Xiaxi, and Ye Ruizhong.

On March 30, the sacred flame will leave from the ancient Acropolis in Athens to its last destination in Greece. BOCOG will be presented with the sacred flame at the torch handover ceremony, which will take place in Panathenaikon Stadium, the site of the first modern-day Olympic Games.