Olympic Torch Ends Trip Sans Tricolour, Some Top Athletes

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Over 100 runners, including a number of Bollywood stars, are took part in a 33 kms relay through the capital.

The torch, kept in a special lantern, returned to India after 40 years.

The flame next destination is Africa. It will return to Greece on July 9 before the games open.

Earlier Olympic torch began a relay through the capital for the second time in history on Thursday, as children, enthusiasts and celebrities watched their bit of the 78,000 kms odyssey.

A torch made of aluminium and olive wood was lit using the original Olympic flame at 1.30 p.m. at the historic Qutab Minar, shortly before the 33.2-km relay began.

The capital, which is pitching to host the 2016 edition of the games, had last seen the Olympic torch relay in 1964.

There was a festive air with musicians and caparisoned horses as Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit flagged off the relay with the towering Qutab Minar in the background.

Indian Olympic Association (IOA) president Suresh Kalmadi was the first torchbearer to run the relay carrying the torch, weighing 700 gm and standing 68 cms tall.

Thousands of Deliites participated the torch relay through the capital and catch their favourite celebrities in action. Among them were such Bollywood stars as Aamir Khan, Aishwarya Rai and Vivek Oberoi.

India's most famous athlete and former runner Milkha Singh, and woman shooter Anjali Bhagwat completed the relay which culminated in a cultural show in the city’s National Stadium with Union Minister of Sports Sunil Dutt attending.

Former cricket captain Kapil Nikhaj Dev, present vice-captain Rahul Dravid, opening batsman Virender Sehwag and spinner Anil Kumble were also among the cricket stars who will participate in the relay.

A ceremonial elephant covered with a velvet cape also carried the torch for a short distance.

A team of Olympic officials from Pakistan also attended the celebration in a sign of the recent thaw in relations between the two neighbours.

Elaborate security arrangements were made all along the relay route and vehicular traffic diverted to ensure smooth passage of the torch.

The relay has triggered off a minor controversy with former star Indian athlete PT Usha, deciding to stay out of the run after being invited late by the authorities.

"This can happen only in India," she told Reuters. "I feel very bad. It's not an opportunity you get every day."

Former all England badminton champion Prakash Padukone also accused the IOA of ignoring sportspersons and selecting a large number of models and actors for the relay. "This can happen only in India," he said referring to the list of film stars, including Aishwarya Rai and Bipasha Basu,selected to run the relay.

Several former Olympians slammed the organisers for ignoring the deserving sportspersons in the torch relay, saying the torch bearers should have been athletes rather than filmstars.

Former hockey players Zafar Iqbal and Ashok Kumar also said that sportspersons should have been more in number as only 30, all Arjuna awardees, out of 105 torchbearers were from the sports world.

"At least they could have honoured all the former Olympians, which would have made them proud," Ashok Kumar said.

Earlier, Kalmadi said the IOA was keen on bringing the torch to the country so that the youth move to Olympic sports.

"This torch relay will strengthen sporting culture among the youth of the country while we are set to host Commonwealth Games in 2010. This will also be a rehearsal for the Olympics, for which India will bid," he said at a press conference in New Delhi.

Dutt said "this is the greatest moment for Indian sports and I'm happy that this city has realised the way of peace through this torch relay".

"Earlier I was told that the relay will be run on a 42-km stretch but now that it is being run only for 33.5 kms, Mr. Kalmadi can cover the rest of the distance," he said in a lighter vein.

Earlier, the torch arrived at Delhi Thursday from Beijing, the hosts of the 2008 edition of the games, by two special Boeing aircraft named Zeus.

International Olympic Committee (IOC) officials handed over the lantern, burning the original Olympic flame, to Kalmadi at the Indira Gandhi International Airport here.

Shortly afterwards, the flame was taken to the Marriott Hotel in south Delhi where it was kept in the heavily guarded Room No. 717 that is decorated in Olympic colours and flags. The hotel is close to the historical Qutab Minar, from where the relay started.

At the end of the public festivities, the flame was escorted to the hotel for a special goodnight celebration during which it would be open for public viewing, Marriott hotel resident manager Darshan Kathuria said.

The Olympic flame, ensconced in a quaint lantern, embarked on its global tour through 33 cities in 27 countries from Olympiad in Greece on June 4.

It will return to Greece July 9 for the final leg of the tour before culminating in Athens on August 13 when it will be lit at the Olympic Stadium.

Olympic gold medallist Cathy Freeman was the first to carry the torch, which she lit from a small lantern bearing the Olympic flame which arrived in Sydney, Australia, from Greece.

The flame will continue to be passed via relay runners on a 70-day, five-continent trip to the Olympics, which start on August 13. It is due to return to Greece on July 9 for a final homecoming tour before entering the Olympic stadium to light the cauldron in August.

The flame arrived in Sydney from Greece early on Friday at the start of a 70-day, five-continent trip to the Olympics, which start on August 13. Olympic swimming champions Susie O'Neill and Kieren Perkins were among the relay runners.

Cricket legend Steve Waugh relit the cauldron from the 2000 Sydney Games.