Sports Calendar

Then she and a half dozen others walked in solemn step to the stadium with the assembled dignitaries (even though in ancient times any woman invading the precinct would be punished by death) and transferred the flame to a torch held by the Greek Olympic tae-kwondo medallist Alexander Nikolaides, who jogged with it on the first leg of its five-month journey to Beijing.

Jacques Rogge, the President of the International Olympic Committee, in a short address, referred obliquely to China’s human rights record by saying that the Beijing Games would be “a chance for the Chinese people to respect other cultures”.

Later six people were arrested in protests around Olympia as the torch’s progress was impeded by demonstrators lying in front of cars. Pro-Tibet demonstrators covered in red paint invaded the town’s central street.

The torch, with a propane gas-fuelled flame, is designed to stay alight in winds of up to 50mph and rain. A reserve flame is always on hand in case of emergency: it has been needed several times in each Olympic year.

Workers at Olympia have been busy repairing the damage caused by devastating forest fires in August. There were few visible signs of the destruction yesterday, except for Kronion Hill, overlooking the ancient stadium. The hill’s tall pine trees, which had formed the backdrop for the 2004 torchlighting ceremony, were gone, leaving only rows of charred stumps.

Following the flame

— The Olympic torch will be carried through London for eight hours on April 6. Its route will pass Nelson’s Column, Downing Street and St Paul’s Cathedral

— The 80 bearers will include Sir Steve Redgrave, the five-time rowing gold medallist, Sir Trevor McDonald, the newsreader, and Kevin Pietersen, the cricketer

— London, as the host in 2012, is being targeted by protesters. The Metropolitan Police is entrusted with the safe passage of the flame

— Various groups have threatened to use the procession to highlight grievances against China. Tibet and Darfur, where the Chinese are seen as allies to Sudan, are the main rallying causes

— A Burmese group is also keen to make its voice heard and the Falun Gong religious sect, which maintains a constant vigil at the Chinese Embassy in London, is also likely to turn up in force

— The torch’s 85,000-mile (135,000km) route through 135 cities has provided an unrivalled publicity opportunity for China’s critics. Mia Farrow, the actress. is staging an alternative torch relay through Darfur, Rwanda, Armenia, Bosnia, Germany, and Cambodia

Times Recommends

• Experts baffled by vanishing sea lions
• CIA caught in a dirty and secretive war
• Double life of Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab