March 24, 2007

Lighting the Flame

The torch for the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympic Games begins a long journey in Greece

By Claudia Atticot

The torch for the 2008 Beijing Summer Games began its 85,000-mile journey from Greece to Beijing, China, on Monday at a lighting ceremony in Olympia, Greece. In keeping with tradition, an actress portraying a high priestess lit the torch using only the rays of the sun and a concave mirror.

PHIL IPPARIS—AP Pro-Tibetan protesters rally outside of the Olympic torch relay ceremony in Olympia, Greece.

From March 24 through March 29, the torch will travel across Greece, ending at Panathinaiko Stadium, in Athens, the site where the first modern Olympic Games were held in 1896. Along the route, different runners will carry the torch. Alexandros Nikolaidis, a Greek Tae Kwon Do silver medalist at the 2004 Games, covered the first leg of the torch relay.

The flame will travel to 20 countries before the start of the Games on August 8. Chinese Olympic officials are hoping to have the torch travel through Tibet and then to the top of the world's highest peak, Mount Everest. Tibet has been the site of recent anti-China protests and many human-rights groups are opposed to the idea.

Public Protests

During the lighting ceremony on Monday, two men rushed onto the field during a speech given by Liu Qi, President of the Beijing Olympics Organizing Committee. One of the protesters carried a black banner that showed the Olympic rings as handcuffs. Greek officials said the men worked for a group called Reporters Without Borders, which is based in Paris, France. China tightly controls the news that comes out of Tibet. Last week, China expelled foreign reporters from the region.

Tibetans have struggled against China's strict rule for many years. Up until 1950, Tibet was largely independent nation until Chinese troops stormed in. China's crackdown on Tibetan language, culture and the Buddhist religion in the 1960s has been a source of conflict between the Chinese government and the Tibetan people ever since.

Last week, Chinese residents were attacked and their business burned after violence erupted in Tibet's capital, Lhasa. "If the Olympic flame is sacred, human rights are even more so," Reporters Without Borders said in a statement. "We cannot let the Chinese government seize the Olympic flame, a symbol of peace, without denouncing the dramatic situation of human rights in the country."

The group is calling for heads of state to boycott the opening ceremony of the Beijing Games. Olympic officials in China are taking strict security measures to make sure that violence and protests do not spoil the torch's 130-day relay to China.

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