Sun god reigns over torch-lighting rehearsal

ANCIENT OLYMPIA, Greece - Priestesses in pleated robes swayed under a scorching sun at thebirthplace of the ancient Olympics on Wednesday in the final rehearsal to light the flame that willburn at the London Games.

Far from the political drama embroiling debt-stricken Greece, locals and foreign touristsgathered at the ruins of the Doric temple to goddess Hera to watch as Greek actress InoMenegaki solemnly stooped to light the torch with a concave mirror.

The flame will serve as a backup if overcast skies loom over Thursday's official ceremony, butweather forecasts predict the event will be similarly blessed by abundant sunshine.

For the first time, male priests danced to the sound of a drum amid the temple's ancient ruinsinstead of limiting the choreography to the adjacent stadium, organisers said.

With her arms raised towards the sky, Menegaki - playing the role of high priestess - theninvoked the sun God Apollo in prayer before kneeling to light the torch in just a few seconds asthe sun's rays focused on the parabolic mirror.

On the slopes of the adjacent stadium where Greeks competed during the ancient games,priestesses swirled in a dance inspired by the mythological nymphs - nubile, young maidens inthe retinue of a god or goddess - while the male priests performed a version of an ancient wardance, minus the weapons.

Greek actress Ino Menegaki, playing the role of High Priestess, lights the Olympic flame during a dressrehearsal for the torch lighting ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic Games at the site of ancientOlympia in Greece May 9, 2012.[Photo/Agencies]

For many Greeks watching, the ceremony was an emotional moment, offering a reminder of theglorious past of a nation now mired in a deep political and economic crisis that threatens to pushit to bankruptcy and out of the euro zone.

"As I was watching the ceremony I was thinking that Greece was once a big power and has sincegone through a lot of hard times but as a country has always managed to stay afloat," saidVangelis Vanezis, a 35-year-old Greek who lives in London.

"And so it made me think that perhaps this crisis is something that will come and go and we'll getthrough it."

The rehearsal ended with the high priestess handing the flame and a fresh olive branch to thefirst torchbearer Spyros Gianniotis, a Liverpool-born Greek swimmer who won the gold medal inthe 10 km open water event at the 2011 world championships.

On Thursday, Gianniotis, who has a Greek father and a British mother, will run with the flame tothe monument where the heart of modern Olympics founder Pierre de Coubertin is buried beforecontinuing and handing the flame over to Alexander Loukos, a Briton of Greek origin.

The flame then covers 2900 km across over 40 towns in Greece, including remote ones nearthe Turkish border and tiny islands in the hands of 490 torchbearers.

It will also pass through five archaeological sites during its eight-day journey across Greecebefore it is flown to the United Kingdom for a tour before the Olympic Games start on July 27. 

An actress, playing the role of a priestess, releases a dove during the dress rehearsal for the torchlighting ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic Games at the site of ancient Olympia in Greece May 9, 2012.[Photo/Agencies]

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