Athens - The torch relay for the Vancouver 2010 Winter Games got underway Thursday in Olympia as a woman playing a high priestess praying to the sun god Apollo at the ancient Olympic stadium lit the silver torch with the sun's rays. Using a concave mirror to reflect the sunlight, the priestess, played by Greek actress Maria Nafpliotou, lit the torch in front of the Temple of Hera after battling with cloudy skies for several minutes.
Bad weather had disrupted the torch-lighting ceremony for the last three Winter Games, forcing officials to use the backup flame from the previous day's dress rehearsal.
The ancient ceremony kicked off a seven-day relay across Greece, which includes the country's ski resorts, before the torch is handed over to Vancouver Olympic organizers in the Panathenian Stadium, the site of the first modern Olympics in 1896.
Holding the silver torch and an olive branch, which symbolizes peace, Vassilis Dimitriadis, a Greek giant-slalom athlete, was the first torchbearer.
The flame will fly to Canada on October 30 for the biggest-ever domestic relay, covering a distance of 45,000 kilometers before the start of the opening ceremony on February 12.
