Flame leaves Istanbul for St. Petersburg
(ISTANBUL, April 3) – The last torchbearer in Istanbul, Taner Sagir, the weightlifting gold medalist in the 77-kg category at Athens 2004, reached Taksim Square at 7:00 p.m. (GMT +3) to light the cauldron, concluding the second leg of the Beijing Olympic Torch Relay outside of the Chinese mainland.
According to Qu Yingpu, a spokesman from BOCOG's Torch Relay Center, the relay in Istanbul was a success, and the torch was enthusiastically received all along the route.
Detailed arrangements by the governments of Turkey and Istanbul, the Turkish Olympic Organizing Committee and the Chinese embassy in Turkey ensured a safe and orderly relay, he said. He expressed belief that success here and in the previous leg in Almaty indicated continued success for the relay.
Following the relay, the Torch Relay operations team left Istanbul and arrived in the next city on the relay route, St. Petersburg, at 3:00 a.m. (GMT +4). The operations team will have a day of rest on April 4, and the Torch Relay will resume in St. Petersburg on April 5.
Beijing Olympic torch relay in St. Petersburg ends
ST. PETERSBURG, April 5 (Xinhua) -- The Beijing Olympic torch relay in St. Petersburg, the third leg of its global journey, ended on Saturday afternoon at the Palace Square.
Mayor of St. Petersburg Valentina Matviyenko (L Front) gives the torch to torchbearer Galina Zybina, Russia's shot put gold medallist at the 1952 Summer Olympics held in Helsinki, at the Victory Square in St. Petersburg, Russia, on April 5, 2008. St. Petersburg is the third stop of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games torch relay outside the Chinese mainland. (Photo credit: Xinhua)
At around 3 p.m. (1100 GMT), the last torchbearer Svetlana Zhurova, the vice speaker of Russian State Duma and a gold medalist at 2006 Turin Winter Olympics, ran into the Palace Square on the south of the Winter Palace, where a huge crowd had already waited to received the Olympic flame.
A grand celebration was held starting from 2:30 p.m. at the square. After Zhurova lit the cauldron, the audience brought out a burst of applause.
Galina Zybina, shot put gold medalist at the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki, Finland, was the first torchbearer running from the Victory Square at about 10:45 a.m. (0645 GMT).
After 250 meters, she handed over the flame to Leonid Tyagachyov, the president of the Russian Olympic Committee, who ran another 250 meters.
There were a total of 80 torchbearers in St. Petersburg, including famous athletes, cultural and business figures and politicians, covering a distance of about 20 kilometers.
The Olympic torch had already been relayed in Almaty, Kazakhstan, on April 2 and Turkey's Istanbul on April 3. It will go on Saturday evening from St. Petersburg to London, the capital of Britain.
http://torchrelay.beijing2008.cn/en/journey/london/index.shtml
Jiang Xiaoyu, executive vice president of BOCOG, shows off Olympic flame as he disembarks in London.
(LONDON, April 5) -- The Beijing Olympic flame arrived in London, the host city of the 2012 Olympics, at 7:00 p. m. (1800 GMT) on April 5 for the fourth leg of an unprecedented relay around the world.
The Olympic flame, carried in a specially designed lantern, flew into London from St. Petersburg, Russia, onboard the Olympic Torch Relay's chartered plane.
London welcomes the sacred flame.
The London leg of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Torch Relay will begin at Wembley Stadium at 10:30 a.m. (0930 GMT), April 6, 2008. Among the celebrities participating in the event are Sir Steve Redgrave, winner of five Olympic gold medals in rowing, and retired English middle-distance athlete Dame Kelly Holmes.
The relay will bring the flame to some of London's most famous spots including the British Museum, the arch in Chinatown, Trafalgar Square, Downing Street, Tower Bridge, St Paul's Cathedral, and the main stadium of the London 2012 Olympic Games, among others.
A celebration will be held at Greenwich, the relay's final London destination, at around 6:00 p.m. (1700 GMT).
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Last edited by ASHLEYTUNG at 2008-4-7 09:27 ]
