QATAR football captain Saad al-Shammari will be one of the torch bearers when the Olympic torch passes through Oman on April 14, Samsung, a presenting partner of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games announced yesterday.
The Beijing Olympic torch will embark on a "Journey of Harmony" by visiting 21 countries, passing through the five continents. Oman is the only country in the Gulf that will host the torch.
Al-Shammari has been part of the Qatar League winning teams on four occasions and is currently leading the country's campaign in the Asian World Cup qualifiers.
"As an athlete I recognise the importance of being a torchbearer and I am thankful to Samsung Electronics for giving me the opportunity to be part of this great event," al-Shammari said.
Aside from al-Shammari, Omani singer Salah Zadjali, Syrian actress Sulaf Fawakherji, Saudi media figure Batal al-Qaws were selected to be Samsung's torchbearers and will participate in Oman's torch relay.
Ranjan Mazmudar, vice-President of Samsung Gulf Electronics commented: "Samsung is thrilled to take part in such a universal event of great importance. The Beijing 2008 Olympic Torch Relay will mark Muscat as a historical spot on an international sports arena. We are extremely proud of our torchbearers as their achievements reflect values of peace and unity that are perfectly aligned with our corporate philosophy and the purpose of the Olympic Games."
Meanwhile, the final rehearsal for the Olympic flame ritual of the Beijing Games was held yesterday in Olympia, southwestern Greece, where the ancient Olympics were born in 776 BC.
Hazy skies that persisted to the last minute prevented organisers from lighting the Games' sacred flame through use of a polished mirror.
A flame lit during a prior rehearsal on Saturday was used instead. Actresses dressed as ancient Greek priestesses performed a choreographed ceremony which for the first time included six young boys acting out racing, wrestling, long jump, javelin and discus throw events from the ancient pentathlon. Head priestess Maria Nafpliotou then lit the Beijing Games torch carried by the first relay runner, Greek taekwondo athlete Alexandros Nikolaidis, a silver medalist in the Athens 2004 Games. The official ceremony will be held today but a forecast of heavy rain has forced organisers to schedule the ritual an hour earlier.
The ceremony had been planned for midday (1000 GMT) but will now be held at 0900 GMT. "We are certain that it will rain very heavily at midday," Tassos Papachristou, a spokesman for the Greek National Olympic Committee said.
In case of heavy rain at the scheduled time, there are contingencies for the ceremony to take place indoors at the site's archeological museum. "Only once have we had rain for the summer Olympics — in 1956 ahead of the Games in Melbourne," Papachristou said.
"But this is the first time that the time of the ceremony has been rescheduled," he added. Concern over protests in Olympia against the 57-year occupation of Tibet by China, and last week's crackdown in the Himalayan province by Chinese forces, has also introduced unprecedented security to this year's ceremony.
Hotels in Olympia are opening their guest lists to police inspection, officers are patrolling the hills around the ancient stadium where the ritual is held and there are plans to prevent spectators from lining the relay route.
Thousands of people are expected to attend today's ceremony, including 2,500 accredited journalists and dignitaries, International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Jacques Rogge, Beijing Olympic organising committee chairman Liu Qi, and the president and prime minister of Greece.
A number of Chinese athletes are scheduled to run the early relay leg out of Olympia, including Chinese swimmer Luo Xuejuan, a gold medalist in the 2004 Olympics, who will be the second relay runner.
The flame will be handed over to the Chinese Olympic Committee on March 30 in another ceremony at the all-marble Panathenaic Stadium in Athens, where the first modern Olympics were held in 1896. (Agencies) |
