Tzipporah.Benavraham@f632.n278.z1.fidonet.org (Tzipporah Benavraham) (05/24/91)
Index Number: 15790
05/14 1521 MOVIE ACTOR ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER
RECEIVES SPECIAL ...
ATHENS, GREECE (MAY 14) - Movie actor Arnold Schwarzenegger
received Tuesday the Olympic flame, lighted by rays of the
sun, and started it on a 20-day journey to the Special
Olympic Games beginning July 19 in Minneapolis, Minn.
At a ceremony on Pnyx Hill, in the shadow of the
Acropolis, Schwarzenegger received the flame from a
teenage girl dressed as an ancient Greek priestess, and
held it aloft while addressing the crowd.
"This flame means daring, comradeship, competition and
skills and it will be taken all the way from here to
Minneapolis to illuminate for one week the Special
Olympics," Schwarzenegger said.
He then handed the torch to a marathon runner to begin
its journey. The Special Olympics Games are held for
mentally retarded athletes, and the proceeds are used to
help the handicapped.
Savvas Vikelis, a retarded marathon runner, took the
flame and ran the first lap of the journey that will take
the flame to the United States, going part of the way by
ship. At the Minneapolis games, the flame will stay alight
from July 19 until July 27.
Because of cloudy weather in Athens Tuesday, the flame
was in fact ignited from the sun's rays Sunday, with the
help of a concave mirror, and kept in a special lamp, which
was used in Tuesday's ceremonies.
Present at the ceremonies was Sargent Shriver, president
of Special Olympics International. Shriver established the
movement in 1968 with his wife Eunice Kennedy, sister of
the late President John F. Kennedy. Schwarzenegger is
married to the Shrivers' daughter, Maria.
He said more than 6,000 athletes would participate in
the Minneapolis Special Olympics. Some 750,000 mentally
retarded athletes competed worldwide to qualify to go to
Minneapolis.
By the year 2000, more than 3 million athletes were
expected to compete for Special Olympics, Shriver said.
Greek Sports Minister Fani Palli-Petralia said it was
very proper that the flame-lighting ceremony was held on
the Pnyx Hill, where the world's first-ever parliament
met.
Ancient Greeks, as Plato indicated in his "Republic,"
believed that sports were necessary "for old people and
those suffering," she said.
After the ceremonies, the flame was taken to the ship
Argonaut, owned by Andreas Potamianos, president of the
Greek chapter of Special Olympics.
Maria Kanellopoulos of the Greek Special Olympics
Committee said a Greek delegation of 80 people, including
57 athletes, was to attend the Minneapolis games.
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