Sydney 2000 Torch Lighting Ceremony: Part 2

Second part of the Channel 7 coverage of the ceremony marking the start of the Sydney 2000 Olympic torch relay. The torch that carried the flame to the Sydney Olympics was lit on 10 May, 2000 in this ceremony in the ancient birthplace of the games, with in the grounds of the Temple of Hera ruins. Cloudy conditions prevented the flame from being lit in a concave mirror as a Greek actress playing the role of a high priestess held the torch. Traditionally the flame is supposed to be lit by the sun's ray. A flame kindled during a preliminary ceremony on Tuesday was used to light the torch to begin the longest relay in Olympic history. The ceremony was led by Thaleia Prokopiou, a 28-year-old actress and it involved 20 women dressed in pleated, cream-colored robes before the Temple of Hera, one of the most important goddesses in the ancient Greek pantheon

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Sports

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• sydney
• 2000
• olympic
• games
• torch
• relay
• cauldron
• lighting
• ceremony
• greece
• virgins
• greek
• tracey holmes
• Channel 7
• Olympia
• flame
• Stan Grant