Olympics: Turin torch lit with back-up flame

OLYMPIA, Greece - Organisers were forced to use a back-up flame in the torch-lighting ceremony for the 2006 Turin Winter Olympics on an overcast Sunday.

Greek sun god Apollo did not hear the prayers of high priestess Theodora Siarkou, who had to light the torch from a replica ancient cauldron which contained the flame from Saturday's dress rehearsal, instead of using the concave steel mirror to focus the sun's rays.

The ceremony in the temple of Hera, a few metres away from the stadium that hosted the ancient Olympics 25 centuries ago, marked the start of the torch relay that will pass through Greece and Italy before lighting the Games cauldron in Turin on February 10.

Organisers of the 20th Winter Games, held in the northern Italian city between February 10 and 26, hope the torch relay will improve sluggish ticket sales and trigger a last-minute rush once Italians see the flame making its way across the country.

Some two-and-a-half months before the start of the Games, only about 60 per cent of tickets have been sold against a target of 82 per cent.

This was the fourth time in five Summer and Winter Games torch ceremonies that rain or clouds washed out the event first introduced for the 1936 Berlin Olympics.

- REUTERS