The Olympic flame has been handed to organisers of the Sochi Winter Olympics in a ceremony at the site of the first modern summer games.
The same actress, dressed as a high priestess, who lit the flame in Ancient Olympia last Sunday, lit a torch from a cauldron placed inside Athens’ Panathinaiko Stadium.
The flame, placed in a lantern, was handed over to Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Kozak.
After a seven-day run through Greece, the flame will cover 65,000 kilometres on Russian soil.
The record-setting relay will start on Monday in Moscow and will finish in Sochi on February 7, the opening day of the games.
A few dozen activists staged a peaceful protest earlier Saturday against Russia’s law banning gay propaganda.