Olympic Flame Lit And On Its Way To London

The countdown to the Summer 2012 Olympic games began on Thursday in Greece at the traditional lighting of the Olympic flame ceremony.

Actress Ino Menegaki played high-priestess and used direct rays from the sun to spark the Olympic flame. Greek President Carolos Papoulias,  president of the Olympic International Committee Jacques Rogge, and London organizing committee chief Sabastian Coe were all in attendance.

Spyros Gianniotis, Greece’s open water swimmer will start the week long relay, which will take it to five major Greek archaeological sites, including the Acropolis. The torch will then be passed to British Boxer of Greek decent, Alexander Loukos.

The British delegation will receive the flame at a night-time ceremony on May 17.

The games are slated to begin on July 27 and run through Aug. 12.

Like Haute Living London? Join our Facebook page or follow us on Twitter @HauteLivingUK. Want Haute Living London delivered to your inbox once a week? Sign up for our newsletter.