About 100,000 college students cheered off the torch relay as the Olympic flame passed the "College City Complex" at the foot of Mount Yuelu here on Wednesday.
Around 100,000 students studying in the "College City Complex", which is composed of Hunan University, Hunan Normal University, Central South University, Central South Industry University and a couple of colleges.
Olympic diving champion Xiong Ni, 34, was the first one carrying torch at 8:10 a.m. local time in the 20.8km city relay of Changsha, the provincial capital of Hunan.
The relay started from a square situated in the middle of the Yuelu Academy and Autumn-admiring Pavilion in the half way of Mount Yuelu, passing Lushan Road, Xinmin Road, Xinmin Assembly Hall, Tongcheng Commercial Square, Mandarin Orange Island Bridge, Peace Hall, Zhongshan Pavilion, Cai'e Road, Xiangchun Road until reaching the destination of Helong Stadium at 11:10 a.m..
Qiong, deputy director of the sports bureau in Hunan, won his first Olympic medal at the age of 14 at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea.
"The Olympic Games is going to be held in my home country. As a three-time Olympian, I am very proud to see the event happening," said Xiong, who competed at the Olympics in 1992, 1996 and 2000.
"It's a memorable moment for me to be a torchbearer in the relay. I look on it as the fourth time of my participation in the Olympic Games.
"I want to tell the residents in the disaster-hit region that you hold on and we are with you," added Xiong, referring to the earthquake in Sichuan province.
Xiong made his international debut in 1987 and won a title. He has since competed at the Olympic Games, winning three gold, one silver and one bronze medals; In addition, he has won 10 gold medals in the World Cup competitions.
Xiong's biggest competitor Dmitri Sautin once paid him the tribute: "I cannot claim to be the world's most outstanding diving athlete. In my opinion, the title of 'King of Divers' belongs to Xiong Ni".
The oldest torchbearer on Friday was 94-year-old Pan Jizhi, who passed the torch to the youngest of the day Xie Yuyang, who is 80 years younger.
Tang Jiuhong, 39, a former Chinese badminton star, was the second from last. She was one of the leading women's singles players of the late 1980's and early 1990s.
She won the then biennial World Championships in 1991 and was a semifinalist in the 1989 and 1993 competitions. Tang was a bronze medalist in women's singles at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics.
Her international singles titles included the prestigious All England Championship in 1991, as well as the Danish (1989, 1990), Singapore (1990), Korean (1992), and Swedish Opens (1992). Tang played on Chinese Uber Cup (women's international) teams that won world team titles in 1990 and 1992.
Mount Yuelu is located on the west bank of Xiang River in Changsha. Its main peak, Yunlu, is 300 meters high.
Mount Yuelu is noted for its many scenic spots, including Qingfeng Gorge, Autumn-admiring Pavilion, Lushan Temple, Yunlu Palace, the White Crane Spring and the Flying Stone.
Autumn-admiring Pavilion was built in 1792. Its original name was Red Leaf Pavilion, later changed based on a poem by Du Mu. Mao Zedong once studied here and the tablet was written by Mao Zedongin the 1950s.
The Yuelu Academy, also known as the "Yuelu Academy of Classical Learning", was founded in 976, the ninth year of the Song Dynasty under the reign of Emperor Kaibao, and was one of four most renowned Shuyuan (academies of higher learning).
The renowned Confucian scholars Zhu Xi and Zhang Shi both lectured at the academy. In 1903 the academy became a university, and in 1926 it was officially named Hunan University.
The torch will take its relay to Xiangtan and Shaoshan on Thursday, the last journey within Hunan province.
Source:Xinhua
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