17 May 2012 Last updated at 19:09

London 2012: Olympic flame handover ceremony

The Olympic flame has officially been handed over to organisers of the London 2012 Games at a ceremony in Athens. The event was held at the Panathenaic Stadium, the home of the first modern Olympics in Greece in 1896.

Olympics Minister Hugh Robertson, footballer David Beckham and Mayor of London Boris Johnson attended the ceremony which started in heavy rain but ended with a rainbow in the sky over the stadium.

Young people carry UK and Greek flags in the Panathenaic Stadium, Athens, Greece

Young people from schools in Greece and Britain, who are part of London 2012's Get Set programme, carried flags in the stadium. Crowds celebrated the moment as both national anthems of the UK and Greece were sung by a British school choir and a Greek tenor.

Greek veteran weighlifter Piros Dimas and Chinese gymnast Li Ning lit the cauldron with the Olympic flame. It was carried around Greece after being lit on 10 May in Olympia. It was taken into the stadium by torchbearer Christina Giazitzidou, Greece's world champion in rowing, who also held aloft an olive branch of peace.

Actress Ino Menegaki performs the role of the high priestess and lights London's Olympic torch with the flame at the Panathenaic stadium in Athens, 17 May 2012

Actress Ino Menegaki performed the role of the high priestess and lit London's Olympic torch with the flame.

President of the Hellenic Olympic Committee, Spyros Capralos and Princess Anne

The flame was passed by the President of the Hellenic Olympic Committee, Spyros Capralos to Princess Anne who represented the UK in her role as president of the British Olympic Association. At this moment the flame became London 2012's official responsibility.

Spyros Capralos, Boris Johnson, Princess Anne, David Beckham, Lord Coe and Hugh Robertson.

The flame was then transferred to a lantern and carried out of the stadium by the Princess, followed by Spyros Capralos, Boris Johnson, David Beckham, London 2012 chairman Lord Coe and Hugh Robertson. It will travel around the UK on a 70-day torch relay before arriving in the Olympic Stadium in London on 27 July.

World

London 2012: Olympic flame handover ceremony

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