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Muhammad Ali lights Olympic torch in Atlanta
Boxing legend Muhammad Ali lit the Olympic torch during a ceremony in Atlanta as the Olympic flame arrived in the United States from Greece for the first time since 1996.
Boxing legend Muhammad Ali lit the Olympic torch during a ceremony in Atlanta as the Olympic flame arrived in the United States from Greece for the first time since 1996.
Ali, who lit the flame at the 1996 summer Olympics in Atlanta, passed the torch with hands shaking from Parkinson's disease to Olympic gold medal figure skater Peggy Fleming Tuesday, who began the first leg of a 13,500-mile (21,700-km) relay destined for Salt Lake City, the host of the 2002 winter Olympics.
''The Olympic spirit overcomes fear, hatred and misunderstanding,'' Georgia Governor Roy Barnes told a cheering crowd during the ceremony at Centennial Olympic Park.
The ceremony had special poignancy for Americans touched by the Sept 11 attacks, as the relay's route has been changed to include Washington, New York and Pennsylvania in memory of the victims. Among the torchbearers will be Lyzbeth Glick, the wife of Jeremy Glick, one of the passengers aboard the flight that crashed on Sept 11 in Pennsylvania after passengers apparently struggled with hijackers.
The torch left the Atlanta area on Tuesday afternoon after passing through the hands of former world heavyweight boxing champion Evander Holyfield and Olympic champion speedskater Bonnie Blair. It was taken to Athens, Georgia, by truck and is scheduled to end the day by crossing into South Carolina.
The flame will be carried on foot, by plane, rail, ship, dog sled, horse-drawn sleigh and snowmobile through 46 states and 80 cities before arriving in Salt Lake City. Ignited by the sun's rays in Olympia, Greece, where the first Olympics were staged nearly 3,000 years ago, the flame was used to ignite a caldron in Atlanta from which the torch was lit.
The Olympic flame was first used for the 1936 Berlin games and soon became a staple tradition for both the summer and winter games. Greece, which will host the 2004 summer games, has said it wants to make its own torch relay a peace tool, touring conflict zones around the world.
Bureau Report
''The Olympic spirit overcomes fear, hatred and misunderstanding,'' Georgia Governor Roy Barnes told a cheering crowd during the ceremony at Centennial Olympic Park.
The ceremony had special poignancy for Americans touched by the Sept 11 attacks, as the relay's route has been changed to include Washington, New York and Pennsylvania in memory of the victims. Among the torchbearers will be Lyzbeth Glick, the wife of Jeremy Glick, one of the passengers aboard the flight that crashed on Sept 11 in Pennsylvania after passengers apparently struggled with hijackers.
The torch left the Atlanta area on Tuesday afternoon after passing through the hands of former world heavyweight boxing champion Evander Holyfield and Olympic champion speedskater Bonnie Blair. It was taken to Athens, Georgia, by truck and is scheduled to end the day by crossing into South Carolina.
The flame will be carried on foot, by plane, rail, ship, dog sled, horse-drawn sleigh and snowmobile through 46 states and 80 cities before arriving in Salt Lake City. Ignited by the sun's rays in Olympia, Greece, where the first Olympics were staged nearly 3,000 years ago, the flame was used to ignite a caldron in Atlanta from which the torch was lit.
The Olympic flame was first used for the 1936 Berlin games and soon became a staple tradition for both the summer and winter games. Greece, which will host the 2004 summer games, has said it wants to make its own torch relay a peace tool, touring conflict zones around the world.
Bureau Report