Special report:   2008 Olympic Games

Nursultan Nazarbayev, president of Kazakhstan, shows the torch to the public before he starts to run as the first torchbearer of the country during the Olympic torch relay in Almaty, Kazakhstan, April 2, 2008. (Xinhua/Zhou Wenjie) Photo Gallery>>>

    ALMATY, April 2 (Xinhua) -- President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev carried the Olympic flame as the first torchbearer, starting up a 20-kilometer relay on Wednesday through Almaty, the first stopover of 2008 Games torch relay outside China's mainland.

    Nazarbayev presented a speech on the set-off ceremony before holding the flame to run the first leg in the Medeo ice skating rink at around 12:10 a.m. local time.

    "Under the help of our neighbor and the president of China, Almaty becomes the first leg of the Olympic torch relay outside China's mainland. With all the eyes around the world looking on us, Kazakhstan, a country of multi-ethnicity presents its best wishes to the Beijing Olympic flame," said Nazarbayev.

    "Kazakhstan is proud of this and many thanks to China. Beijing Olympic Games is set to unseal a new era of sports in the 21st century."

    The fence around the rink was dressed up in "Beijing 2008". The stand was fully packed with spectators in uniform of five colors representing that of "five rings".

    The gigantic balloons of "Fuwa", the mascot of Beijing Olympic Games, were let off, flying high into the sky.

    Kazakhstan's Olympic boxing champion of 2004 Bakhtiyar Artaev was the second to run in the city relay.

    Top athletes among the torchbearers were Ludmila Prokasheva, skating bronze medallist of the 1998 Winter Olympics, Zhaksylyk Ushekempirov, Olympic wrestling champion of 1980.

    Other local celebrities include Adilbek Zhaaksybekov, Football Federation President of Kazakhstan, Pavel Novikov, Athletics Federation President of Kazakhstan.

    Mayor of Almaty Imangali Tasmagambetov and Chinese ambassador Zhang Xiyun were also torchbearers.

    In addition to the world-renowned Medeo skating rink, there were another four sites for the audience to welcome the Olympic flame -- the Medeo dam in southeastern Almaty, the Republic Palace, the Republic Square and the Astana Square in the downtown area.

    The crowd was so enthusiastic that they screamed all through the route in downtown. When one site celebration was over, the onlookers thronged to the next.

Zhang Xiyun (R), Chinese Ambassador to Kazakhstan, hands over the torch to Nursultan Nazarbayev, president of Kazakhstan, during the Olympic torch relay in Almaty, Kazakhstan, April 2, 2008. (Xinhua/Zhou Wenjie) Photo Gallery>>>

    The city relay featured a variety of ways including skiing, horse riding and motorcycling, pushing the relay into climax for a couple of times.

    "Almaty was once on the Great Silk Road linking Asia and Europe," Tasmagambetov said. "The people of Kazakhstan and Almaty in particular are very proud."

    The longest-ever Olympic torch relay, dubbed the "journey of harmony", will last 130 days and cover 137,000 kilometers.

    As the first stop of the relay, Kazakhstan sees the flame's arrival as a moment of national pride and the promotion of its national sports.

    Most parts of the city cheered up for a string of magnificent torch relays.

    "It's the best ever festival in Kazakhstan," said Dular Baitugelov, who works in a bar.

    "Everywhere in the city is permeated with happiness and passion. I have been longing for the day since the date is set. The whole country is so proud to welcome the flame."

    The Medeo, outdoor speed skating rink, is one of the most famous ice rinks in the world. It sits 1,691 meters above sea level and utilizes a sophisticated freezing and watering system to ensure the quality of the ice.

    The Medeo Dam, built in the late 1960s, stands immediately south of the skating rink, protecting it - and the city of Almaty itself - from potentially devastating mudflows.

    Medeo has seen many world records in all the speed skating distances from 1951 through the 1980s: 500 meters, 1000 meters, 1500 meters, 3000 meters, 5000 meters and the 10000 meters.

    After Almaty, the flame was scheduled to be flown to Istanbul, St. Petersburg, London, Paris, San Francisco, Buenos Aires, Dar es Salaam, Muscat, Islamabad, New Delhi, Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, Jakarta, Canberra, Nagano, Seoul, Pyongyang, Ho Chi Minh City, Hong Kong and Macao, before returning to China's mainland.