Athens ready to light up

ATHENS, Greece -- With the 2,500-year-old Parthenon as a majestic backdrop, a modern-day Greek sports heroine lit a cauldron Thursday night atop Acropolis Hill with the Olympic flame -- home at last from a worldwide journey on the eve of the Summer Games.

Niki Bakoyianni, a silver medal-winning high jumper at the 1996 Olympics, raised her arms in triumph after touching the torch to the cauldron at the Acropolis, one of Athens' most celebrated landmarks.

She was handed the torch by nine-time Olympic champion Carl Lewis, who was cheered exuberantly by huge crowds as he ran through the cobblestone streets below the Acropolis.

"We welcome the Olympic flame back home ... it will shine in the hearts of all people on Earth, carrying the message of peace and brotherhood," Athens Mayor Dora Bakoyianni told a crowd that gathered on a balmy evening beneath the ancient floodlit columns.

"We are ready -- let the games begin!"

The torch moves to the Olympic stadium today, when the opening ceremony kicks off the games. But for many Greeks, Thursday's lighting at the Acropolis trumped anything that will happen during the extravaganza to come.

"It was a very big mistake" to light the flame at the Acropolis before the opening ceremony, said Georgis Karalis, a spokesman for the Greek organizing committee, underscoring how deeply the imagery and symbolism stirred Greeks.

The Olympic flame wasn't part of the ancient games, and it didn't become a fixture in the modern Olympics until the 1936 Berlin Games, when it was part of the Nazi pageantry that promoted Hitler's beliefs of Aryan supremacy in the world of sports.

Its arrival at Acropolis Hill capped a final swing through Athens' suburbs after leaving the port of Piraeu, where it had spent the night after being carried on a replica of an ancient Athenian warship -- or trireme -- for a trip down the coastline.

Ferries blared their horns in a deafening welcome chorus as the flame went past newly built Olympic venues to the ancient Temple of Poseidon at Cape Sounion.

"It just feels great to be part of this. I am very lucky," said Greek weightlifter Valerios Leonidis, who carried the torch to the hilltop temple.

But the flame's arrival at the Acropolis was even more stirring.

"We welcome the flame at the sacred rock of the Acropolis," Prime Minister Costas Caramanlis said. "Today, Greece is totally ready. We welcome the athletes, the Olympic officials and the visitors with all our hearts."

As a band played the Olympic hymn and the Greek national anthem, Lewis praised the country for being a gracious host.

"Everyone in Greece has been really nice, and I think everyone's going to have a wonderful games," Lewis said.

Since it was lit March 25 by the sun's rays at Ancient Olympia -- birthplace of the ancient games -- the flame has traveled an unprecedented 46,800 miles through 26 countries on a chartered jet named "Zeus," including first-time appearances in Africa and South America.

Highlights included stops at the Great Wall of China, and a host of celebrities carried the wood-and-titanium torch, from Pele and Tom Cruise to Nelson Mandela. Supermodel Naomi Campbell was to help carry it to the stadium on Friday.

The Greek leg through 29 cities and six major archaeological areas could provide a last-minute boost in Olympic enthusiasm, hurt by years of difficulties caused by construction delays and security fears.

Athens organizers said Wednesday they have sold half of the 5.3 million tickets available for the Olympics, following a surge in interest over the past two weeks.

"People really feel that the games have arrived. ... The torch relay has created a great atmosphere," said Marton Simitsek, a senior games official.

Gianna Angelopoulos-Daskalaki, the chief Athens organizer, called the flame's arrival at the Acropolis "a reminder to the world that Greece is the birthplace of democracy, philosophy and Olympism."

"The flame has united the world," she said.

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On the Net:

Olympic Torch Relay: http://www.athens2004.com/torchrelay