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Climbers display the flags at the top of Mt. Qomolangma. (Photo credit: Xinhua)

Chinese mountaineers carried the Olympic flame to the peak of the world's highest mountain at around 9:10 a.m. (0110 GMT) on May 8, fulfilling the promise Beijing made in its Olympic bid.
The scaling of 8,844.43 meter Mt. Qomolangma, known as Mt. Everest in the West, which straddles Nepal and China's Tibet Autonomous Region, added to what has already been a historic Olympic Torch Relay and bonded mountaineering to the Olympics for the first time since its birth as a sport in 1786.
A collective triumph of mountaineers and technicians from various Chinese ethnic groups, the Mt. Qomolangma leg of the Torch Relay gave new meaning to the word "higher" in the Olympic motto and to Beijing's concept of a "High-tech Olympics."
Led by 45-year-old veteran alpinist and head coach Wang Yongfeng, the squad was composed of 36 members, including three females, some students and five coaches. The average age of the group was 30.2 and each member had climbed to an elevation of at least 6,000 meters before.

Luobuzhandui kindles the Olympic torch held in Jiji's hand

The ascent officially began when the team left Base Camp, which is 5,200 meters above sea level, for the 6,500 meter point 28 kilometers away, said a spokesman. Heavy snowfall on May 2 and 3 halted the climb.
After the weather turned favorable, the team continued on the remaining 20 kilometers to the summit, stopping at various camps along the way.
A total of 19 mountaineers were selected from among the squad to bring the Olympic flame from the Attack camp -- at the altitude of 8,300 meters -- to the summit of Mount Qomolangma.
The summit assault started at around 1:45 a.m. on May 8 and the team reached the peak at 9:10 a.m.
Training for the mission began 16 months ago. In November of 2006, over 70 climbers started training both in Beijing's Huairou County and in the Tibet Region; joint training was conducted in March of 2007.
Keeping the torch burning through bad weather, low pressure and high altitude was a tremendous technical achievement. In a test run on May 9, 2007, 17 Chinese climbers scaled Mt. Qomolangma with a flame protected in a high-tech torch, designed by a Chinese aerospace company, The success of the test run assured organizers that the Olympic torch would remain lit during the actual Torch Relay.
After the test run, the newly formed Chinese Mountaineering Team prepared themselves for the Olympic Torch Relay climb in Beijing, Yunnan Province and Tibet.

Thousands of Chinese students waving red flags and signs such as "One World, One Dream, One China" gathered in Nagano outside the setting-off site.
Supporters holding Chinese flags, mixed with some Japanese and Olympic emblems, lined the relay route. Eighty torch bearers took part in the 18.7 km (12 mile) relay through the city, including passing the Olympic stadium M-Wave.
The relay was started by Senichi Hoshino, the manager of Japan's national baseball team.
Senichi Hoshino is a former Japanese professional baseball player and manager.
In 2003, he led the Tigers to their first Central League pennant in 18 years before retiring for health reasons. On January25, 2007, it was announced that he would manage the Japanese national team for the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
The 61-year-old Hoshino is popular in Japan. As a baseball player, he helped his team win two league championships. He coached two teams to three trophies in national league championship.
Kosuke Kitajima, gold medalist in the Athens Games, was in the 72th place bearing the torch.
Kitajima first made history by being the first swimmer to set anew world record at the Asian Games when he did so in the 200m breast stroke in 2002 at Busan.
He won gold medals for the men's 100m and 200m breaststroke in the 2004 Summer Olympics.

Mizuki Noguchi, a long-distance athlete, was credited to run the last leg and lit the cauldron in the celebration ceremony.
Noguchi was born in Kanagawa, but grew up in Ise in Ise city in Mie. She started competing in track and field during her first year of middle school. While attending Ujiyamada Commercial High School, she entered the national high school track meet and competed in the 3000m and the long-distance relay.
After winning the Inuyama half-marathon in 1999, she was inspired to concentrate her efforts on that event. She was ranked second in the world that year, and in 2001 she won in the all-Japan corporate league.
With a string of victories, she became known as "Queen of the Half Marathon". Continuing through the Miyazaki Women's Road Race competition in January 2004, she competed in 24 half marathons, and won 14 of them. Only twice was she beaten by another Japanese athlete.
In March 2002 she entered her first full marathon, the Nagoya International Women's Marathon, and won. In January 2003 she won the Osaka International Women's Marathon with a time of 2 hours 21minutes 18 seconds, the second-fastest on record for Japan.

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[+/-] : Perfectly infused with Olympic spirit, sample ticket unveiled

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[+/-] : Olympic flame arrives in Japan

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The flame arrived in Tokyo at 6am local time on Friday from its last stop in Australia's capital of Canberra. It was carried off the plane by the vice president of the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games, or BOCOG, Li Binghua. China's ambassador to Japan, Cui Tiankai, and Chiharu Igaya, vice president of the IOC, were at the airport to welcome the Chinese delegation. There was also enormous support from the overseas Chinese community in Japan.
In preparation for the torch relay on Saturday, the flame will be transferred to Nagano, where the Winter Olympic Games were hosted in 1998.
Japan's Olympic officials held a press conference two days ago to formally announce the list of selected torchbearers for the Nagano leg of the relay. 80 people including former Olympic champions, sports celebrities, government officials and representatives from the public sector are set to carry the torch.

This is Ai Fukuhara, a well-known table tennis player. She started playing pingpong at the age of three and has won many Japanese national championships. She also spent a long time in China where she received training and has many Chinese fans. Many people see her as a sort of ambassador between the two countries.

Torchbearer Ai Fukuhara said, "I made so many Chinese friends through playing pingpong. I also studied the Chinese language and culture and so I learnt a lot in China."
In addition to preparing for the torch relay, Fukuhara is also practicing for the Olympics.
Torchbearer Ai Fukuhara said, "I grew up with the guidance and help of Chinese coaches. I'm excited to take part in this year's Olympics and I hope the Beijing Games will be a great success."
Some Chinese students studying in Japan have also been selected to be torchbearers.
Torchbearer Zhang Bi said, "I'll have a big smile on my face when I run. I want to show the whole world that Chinese youths are energetic, healthy and have a positive spirit."
As a modern Olympic city, Nagano's torch relay route is intended to reflect the passion and spirit for the Olympics. The flame's journey on this leg will begin at the historic site of the city's Labor and Social Security Center and pass through many stadiums of the 1998 Winter Olympic Games. Organizers say the 18.5-kilometer journey was designed to reflect the annual Marathon commemorating the Olympic movement.
The city of Nagano is also called "the roof of Japan" due to its high altitude. The city is a tourism hotspot in Japan - for its coolness in summer and mountains blanketed in snow for winter ski. Many local residents say the arrival of the Beijing Olympic flame will rekindle memories of the Winter Olympics ten years ago.