The torch relay for the Shanghai 2007 Special Olympics World Summer Games on Tuesday was held in Sydney, Australia's largest city.
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Twelve Special Olympics athletes representing Australia joined 40 law enforcement personnel, two Shanghai Special Olympics representative athletes and two Chinese law enforcement personnel carried the torch in the Flame of Hope Law Enforcement Torch Run through Sydney.
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On Friday morning, the Flame of Hope was welcomed by Chinese lion performance at the starting point, the Luna Park, where the official handover ceremony of the Minor's Lamp, which carried the flame, was held before the torch run started.
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Special Olympics Australia Chairman Rex Langthorne and Special Olympics Asia Pacific Managing Director Troy Greisen were among the VIPs attending the handover ceremony.
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Langthorne said Australians are deeply honored that Sydney was chosen as one of the cities of the world to receive the flame on its way to Shanghai games.
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"Our Australian team of 128 Intellectually Disabled athletes plus support people certainly look forward to visiting your city in 10 days time to enjoy some Chinese hospitality and culture plus of course win some medals during the Games," he said.
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He told Xinhua after the handover ceremony that the Special Olympics torch relay in Sydney will certainly promote the course of Special Olympics in Australia by encouraging more volunteers and sponsors to be involved.
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Among 180,000 intellectually disabled people in Australia, only more than 4,000 are Special Olympics athletes, he said, adding he hopes this number will double in the future.
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The runners passed Sydney's iconic sites including the Sydney Harbor Bridge, the Chinese Gardens in Darling Harbor, the Sydney Town Hall and finally reached the last stop, the Government House, where the official welcome ceremony for the flame was held.
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Andrew Scipione, police commissioner of the state of New South Wales with Sydney as its capital, lighted the Flame of Hope Cauldron with two Australian athletes.
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Some other activities were also held during the day. After the torch run, a number of Australian and Chinese Special Olympics athletes and law enforcement personnel carried the torch to the summit of the Sydney Harbor Bridge.
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A welcome ceremony was also held in the Consulate-General of the People's Republic of China in Sydney Friday night, attracting more than 300 guests.
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Sydney is the final leg of the international tour of the 2007 Shanghai Special Olympics torch run, which marks the first time the Flame of Hope has traveled the globe in a single event and the first time the torch has been to Australia.
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The flame was lit in Athens in June and reached Cairo, London, Washington DC, Seoul and Tokyo during its 35,200 kilometers journey across five continents to pass on the spirit and friendship of athletes and raise public attention and respect for individuals with intellectual or physical disabilities.
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It will be transported to China later this month for the games in Shanghai in October. More than 10,000 athletes and coaches, 20,000 family members from more than 160 countries and regions are expected to show up at the event.

(Xinhua News Agency September 19, 2007)