Olympic torch: Torvill and Dean skate with 2012 flame

Olympic figure skating legends Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean carried the 2012 torch through Nottingham and lit the cauldron on the 41st relay day.

They skated at the city's rink, where they said their "Olympic dreams started", before becoming the final torchbearers of the day.

The torch travelled 100 miles from <link> <caption>Lincoln to Nottingham</caption> <url href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/torchrelay/day41" platform="highweb"/> </link> on Thursday.

Earlier, the torch relay was delayed by lightning as it travelled through Mansfield in wet weather.

Torchbearer Glenn Chambers - who was set to take his turn - and two other carriers before the lunch break were ushered on to convoy vehicles until a storm abated.

Once rumbling thunder had faded, the relay continued in heavy rain to the Rebecca Adlington Swimming Centre.

When the flame arrived in Nottingham on Thursday evening, Torvill and Dean carried it across the ice at the National Ice Centre and performed a specially-choreographed routine with the torch in hand.

Later they carried the torch through the city to Old Market Square, where they lit the cauldron for the evening celebration.

Christopher Dean said: "It was amazing to think we could be here in Nottingham, where all our Olympic dreams started.

"This (torch relay) represents the spirit of the Olympics, and it's a rallying cry for the whole nation to get behind."

Jayne Torvill added: "Winning the Olympics was a great event, but this is right up there."

Both were born in Nottinghamshire and trained for their Olympic success at the ice rink.

<link> <caption>They shot to fame when</caption> <url href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/winter-sports/16234415" platform="highweb"/> </link> they won gold with perfect scores at the 1984 Winter Olympics in Sarajevo with their interpretation of Ravel's Boléro.

Forest fixture

Dorothy Fraser, 75, started the relay day just before 08:00 BST when she carried the flame through Minister Yard beside Lincoln Cathedral.

At <link> <caption>Sherwood Forest</caption> <url href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-nottinghamshire-18599537" platform="highweb"/> </link> , the flame visited Major Oak, a tree estimated to be aged between 800 and 1,000 years old, with torchbearer Laura Graves, 16, from Grantham.

Other bearers included:

• Daniel Whittingham, 26, from Gamston, who lost a leg in 2011 whilst serving in Afghanistan. Last year he was among six injured servicemen who rowed across the Atlantic.

• Jillian Stidever, 75, from Boughton, who has been involved with disability swimming from local to national level for more than 50 years.

• Tom Baptist, 28, from Nottingham, who runs outreach work for a residential youth centre in Derbyshire.

A total of 107 torchbearers carried the flame through 17 communities during the day.

The relay travelled through Lincoln, Saxilby, Darlton, East Markham, Tuxford, Kirton, Boughton, Edwinstowe, Mansfield, Kelham, Newark-on-Trent, Balderton, Belton House, Grantham, Radcliffe-on-Trent, Nottingham and West Bridgford.

Sherwood Forest was on the Olympic torch relay map

The day also saw 20 young people, selected through the <link> <caption>Locog International Inspiration programme</caption> <url href="http://www.london2012.com/join-in/education/international-inspiration/" platform="highweb"/> </link> , run in two teams of 10 in Radcliffe-on-Trent and Nottingham.

One torchbearer was chosen from each of the 20 countries taking part, from Azerbaijan to Zambia.

Among them is an 18-year-old community swimming instructor from Bangladesh, a 16-year-old from Uganda who hopes to become an athletics coach and a 14-year-old from Palau in the western Pacific, which has a major obesity problem among young people.

A total of 8,000 people will carry the flame during its 8,000 mile, 70-day journey to the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in London on 27 July.