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Reuters: Olympic torch re-lit in Beijing ceremony
Countdown to 8-8-08...
Countdown to 8-8-08...
Olympic torch re-lit in Beijing ceremony
By STEPHEN WADE, AP Sports Writer
1 hour, 59 minutes ago
Chinese President Hu Jintao presided over the re-lighting of the Olympic torch Monday in the host city, signaling the start of an around-the-world torch relay that already has become a magnet for protesters.
Hu's participation in the elaborate ceremony in Tiananmen Square in the heart of the capital underlined the importance China places on the Olympics and its hope to display a confident, strong nation to the world when the games open Aug. 8.
The ceremony, 130 days before the start of the Olympics, came a week after the lighting ceremony for the Olympic torch in Greece was marred by protests.
"I declare the torch relay of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games has begun," Hu said after handing the flame to China's Olympic gold-medal hurdler, Liu Xiang. Liu jogged off the square as blue, gold and silver confetti flew, Chinese and Olympic flags waved and traditional drums pounded.
After a one-day stop in Beijing, the flame goes Tuesday to Almaty, Kazakhstan, the start of an 85,000-mile journey back to Beijing.
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