The Olympic flame reached the Acropolis on Thursday after an unprecedented journey across five continents and will rest among its ancient temples before launching the Athens Games on Friday. Nine-times Olympic gold medallist Carl Lewis handed the flame to Greek high jumper Niki Bakogianni, a silver medallist at Atlanta in 1996, who lit a cauldron amid the 2,500-year-old temples on the hill overlooking Athens. Lewis had carried the torch, modelled like an olive leaf, to the steps of the Acropolis, cheered on by thousands of Athenians and tourists. Some waved small Greek flags. "Tonight the flame illuminates the Acropolis, the ultimate symbol of Greece and Greek civilisation," said Games chief organiser Gianna Angelopoulos. "This journey is the history of the Athens Games -- a bridge between the ancient and the modern -- reminding the whole world that Greece is where democracy, philosophy and the Olympics were born," she said. International Olympic Committee officials, Greek President Costis Stephanopoulos and Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis were among officials at the ceremony. Greece's former King Constantine, who makes only rare visits to the staunchly anti-royalist country, was in the audience. --MORE 2237 Local Time 1937 GMT
