London 2012 Olympics: Organisers hope the Olympic torch can fire national pride ahead of Games The first 2012 torch was only lit after an ill-timed gust of Greek wind briefly extinguished the flame, threatening to derail one of the key landmarks on the road to London. It happened at the climax of the ceremony as the flame was carried into the view of a large crowd in the stadium, transported in a bowl by a high priestess flanked by Olympic priestesses. As applause from the spectators rang around the arena the flame went out. Showing composure worthy of her status, the actress playing the high priestess realised her predicament and elegantly reversed behind the grass banking that surrounds the track. While the Olympic priestesses waited and organisers twitched in the VIP seats, she re-lit the flame from a lamp lit as insurance at the same time as the bowl, and returned with the fire restored to an even bigger ovation. Moments later the fire was used to light the first London torch, carried by Liverpool-born Greek long-distance swimming world champion Spyros Gianniotis. After running through the stadium he handed it on to Alex Loukos, 19, from Newham, who was part of London's victorious bid delegation in Singapore in 2005. Loukos's selection as the first Briton to carry the flame symbolised the commitment to youth that has underpinned London's Games from the outset of the bid. This is not the first time the Olympic flame has gone out, but Locog will hope the brief interruption is not a portent of events to come this summer. London's golden gas-powered torches will certainly have to be more robust if the flame is to survive the British deluge that awaits. The brief interruption aside, the lighting ceremony was hitch-free, and offered an early taste of the Olympic formality and international focus that lies ahead for London. The location also served as a reminder of what makes the Olympics different to any other sporting event. The ceremony may have a touch of Up Pompeii about it, but the setting invests it with significance. Lord Coe was returning to Olympia for the first time since 1975, when he travelled from Athens as a teenage tourist fresh from winning his first international title at the European Junior Championships. "It is a wonderful, verdant, beautiful place," he said. I probably had to come back to fully understand its significance, but I remember walking around and taking it in 37 years ago. By then the Olympics were firmly in my sights. The opening ceremony of 2012 is firmly in view now too, and Coe said the torch relay would sharpen excitement at home, particularly when it lands in Cornwall next Friday evening. International Olympic Committee member Sir Craig Reedie, who as chairman of the British Olympic Association was one of the drivers of the London bid, said the torch could herald an upturn in the national mood. "I saw in Sydney and again in Vancouver, that the torch really does have the power to unite a country behind something, " he said. We are not living in the best economic climate but it would be wonderful if for a few weeks and months this summer the torch and the Olympics could make people feel a bit better about their prospects, and that things are on the turn. Sports minister Hugh Robertson echoed Reedie's optimism: "This is a fantastic historical ceremony, it is a really important part of the journey, but for most people at home the moment that the real excitement starts will be when it arrives on British soil next week. I think then even people who are not interested in sport will say that this is the Olympics and they want to be part of it. This is a really important moment.