当地时间3月24日11点45分，希腊最高女祭司娜芙普利都在古奥林匹亚遗址成功点燃北京奥运会圣火，随着希腊著名跆拳道运动员尼克拉泽斯举起手中的火炬，奥林匹克圣火在希腊境内的传递活动也正式拉开帷幕。圣火将在3月31日抵达北京。从4月1日起将在五大洲开展以“和谐之旅”为主题的奥运火炬接力。8月6日，奥运火炬返抵北京，8月8日晚点燃国家体育场—“鸟巢”北京奥运会主火炬。

The head priestess, Greece's actress Maria Nafpliotou, raises the torch of Olympic flame during the flame lighting ceremony for the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games held in Olympia, Greece, March 24, 2008. (Xinhua Photo)

A "high priestess" in white, basked in bright sunshine, lit the Olympic flame yesterday at the sacred site of ancient Olympia.

The flame for the Beijing Games was ignited in a traditional sun-ray ceremony in front of the Hera Temple, raising the curtain on the torch relay - which will span an epic 130-day, 137,000-km journey around the world.

Although dark clouds shadowed the rehearsals in previous days, the sunshine broke out just in time to help Greek actress Maria Nafpliotou, portraying the High Priestess, light the first torch out of a concave mirror at about 11:45 am local time.

Prior to the lighting, Nafpliotou and 20 women priestesses - all wearing pleated white dresses and sandals - performed an ancient ritual.

"Today will lead to the opening of the first ever Olympic Games in China, where one-fifth of the world's population is longing for them," said Jacques Rogge, president of the International Olympic Committee, at the ceremony.

"The messengers will be citizens, young or old, able or disabled, athletes and members of the Olympic Movement, who are all eager to promote what each one of us can contribute to a better world," he said.

Liu Qi, president of the Beijing Organizing Committee of the Games of the XXIX Olympiad (BOCOG), said at the ceremony: "The flame will travel over mountains and seas across the globe, our common homeland.

"The Olympic flame will radiate light and happiness, peace and friendship, and hope and dreams to the people of China and the whole world. Its rays will light up the starry skies during the Beijing Olympic Games."

At the end of the ceremony, Greek athlete Alexandros Nikolaidis - the 2004 Olympic silver medalist in taekwondo (80kg) - received the flame from Nafpliotou to start the torch relay in Greece.

On the Greece leg, it will pass through 16 prefectures, 43 municipalities, 12 municipal districts and four communities in the hands of 605 torchbearers. En route, a total of 29 ceremonies will be held to celebrate the flame.

On the first day of the relay, nine Chinese torchbearers took part, including Olympic swimming gold medalist Luo Xuejuan and former world table tennis champion Deng Yaping.

The Olympic flame will be handed over to BOCOG at 3 pm local time on March 30 at the Panathenian Stadium in Athens.

The flame will arrive in Beijing on March 31, where a grand welcome ceremony will be held at Tian'anmen Square.

The flame will visit 21 cities outside the Chinese mainland and travel across 113 cities of all 31 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities in the mainland until it returns to Beijing on August 6.

(China daily)

Vocabulary:

 concave mirror: 凹面镜

 ritual: 仪式

torchbearers: 火炬手

（英语点津boeybb编辑）