Chinese ambassador to the United Kingdom Fu Ying and double Olympic champion Kelly Holmes will be amongst the 80 torchbearers passing the Olympic Flame across London on April 6.
Broadcaster Sir Trevor McDonald and actress Amara Karan will also run the one-day leg, as part of the worldwide Beijing Olympic Torch Relay, as revealed by Greater London Authority, who organizes the London relay.
Fu Ying said that she was glad to be involved in the event, starting at Wembley Stadium, site of the 1948 Olympic Games, and finishing at the O2 Arena at North Greenwich, which is to be one of the venues for the 2012 Games.
Large crowds are expected, as stars of sports, stage, screen and music and young people recruited from London's schools, will carry the Olympic torch through ten London boroughs.
"Following the outstanding success of the Athens Olympic Torch Relay in London in 2004," said Mayor of London Ken Livingstone. "It is a great honor for our city to participate in the Beijing 2008 Olympic Torch Relay and once again carry the Olympic spirit of friendship and cooperation between nations across the world."
"In the year that will see the handover from Beijing to London, it is a unique opportunity to generate interest and excitement across the capital as London itself prepares for the Games in 2012."
The London relay also marks the final day of the China in London season and a program of free events is planned at key points along the London route, which will take in Notting Hill, Marble Arch and Oxford Street, Trafalgar Square and the South Bank, the City and East London.
The day will culminate in a free, ticketed event at the O2 Arena.
The Olympic Flame will go to 19 cities on five continents before returning to China and arriving in Beijing for the start of the 2008 Olympic Games on August 8.
(Xinhua News Agency February 22, 2008)
