Greece hands over Olympic flame

Greece handed over the Olympic flame to Canada on Thursday during a ceremony in Athens, officially launching the start of the longest domestic relay in history for the Vancouver 2010 Winter Games.

"We entrust the scared flame to our Canadian friends for safekeeping and wish them spectacular and successful Olympic Games as they welcome the world's best winter athletes in 2010," said Spyros Capralos, president of the Hellenic Olympic Committee.

The ceremony at the Athens Panathinaiko Stadium, the site of the first modern Olympics in 1896, concluded an eight-day torch relay across Greece which included the country's ski resorts.

A high priestess played by actress Maria Nafpliotou performed a sacred ritual around an altar together with priestesses holding olive-tree branches after 18-year-old figure skater Niki Georgiadou entered the stadium with the flame.

"On behalf of all Canadians we accept the Olympic flame with humility and respect ... the flame represents much more than a sporting event. It embodies the values of peace, friendship and respect and has the power to unite, inspire and bring harmony to the world," said John Furlong, chief executive of the vancouver Organising Committee.

Following the handover of the flame, two Aboriginal flame attendants from the Madawaska Maliseet First Nation in New Brunswisk and from the Mohawk community of Akwesasne in central Canada used a wand to capture the flame and light a miner's lantern for safekeeping.

The attendants are among a group of 11 young Aboriginals chosen to protect the flame as it travels across Canada.

The flame will fly to Canada on October 30 for the biggest-ever domestic relay, beginning in Victoria, British Columbia.

More than 12 000 torchbearers which will cover a distance of 45 000 kilometers in 106 days before the start of the opening ceremony on February 12.

The flame will be carried by various modes of transportation through more than 1 000 communities which include dogsled, Haida canoe, chuck wagon, seaplane, ice resurfacer and double-decker bus and flown as far north as the Alert forestry station in Nunavut.

The ancient lighting ceremony for the Vancouver Olympics was peaceful compared to the previous one held for the Beijing 2008 Games, which was disrupted by a series of human rights protests.

Unlike Beijing, Vancouver will only have a national relay after the IOC decided to ban future international relays following the Beijing protests by Tibetan activists.

Canadian organisers have expressed fears, however, that some protests over "native American land" and seal hunting could disrupt the relay.