The flame is lit using a mirror and the sun's rays, before being passed on to light the torch for the relay. The flame for the London 2012 torch relay and Olympic Games has been lit during a ceremony in Olympia, Greece.
The ceremony took place amid the Temple of Hera ruins, by the ancient Olympic Games stadium. The actress Ino Menegaki, playing a high priestess, caught the sun's rays in a parabolic mirror.
The flame was transferred to a Greek torch which then "kissed" the London 2012 torch of Liverpool-born Greek world champion 10km swimmer Spyros Gianniotis.
The flame was transferred to a Greek torch which then "kissed" the London 2012 torch of Liverpool-born Greek world champion 10km swimmer Spyros Gianniotis.
Liverpool-born Greek swimmer Spyros Gianniotis was first to run with the torch.
The flame passed to first British torchbearer, Alex Loukos, with a torch "kiss". First torchbearer Mr Gianniotis passed the torch on to Alex Loukos, 19, the first British torchbearer, a boxer and, in 2005, one of a delegation of east London schoolchildren who travelled to Singapore as part of London's final bid for the Games.
Lit in Olympia, the flame was taken on a week-long tour of Greece. The torch was then carried 1,800 miles (2,900km ) through Greece by 500 torchbearers on a week-long route circling the country and travelling out to the islands of Crete and Kastelorizo.
