Chinese gymnastics champion Li Ning carries the Olympic flame as he is lifted to the air during the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympic Games in the National Stadium in north Beijing, China, Aug. 8, 2008
Former Chinese gymnastics champion Li Ning runs towards the cauldron of the Beijing Olympic Games during the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympic Games held in the National Stadium, also known as the Bird's Nest, in north Beijing, China, Aug. 8, 2008
The cauldron of the Beijing Olympic Games was lit by former gymnastics star Li Ning in the National Stadium in north Beijing on Friday night.
The triple gold medalist at the 1984 Los Angeles Games, who is now a successful entrepreneur, took a stunt-like and painstaking journey around the top of the stadium, better known as the Bird's Nest, before setting ablaze the giant cauldron.
Lifted with computer-controlled wires around his waist, the 45-year-old Li imitated running along the 500-meter-long, 14-meter-wide brim of the bowl-shaped, roofless top of the Bird's Nest, which is also a gigantic screen.
Video of the Olympic torch's global relay, covering a record distance of some 137,000 kilometers in 129 days, was shown on the screen, closely following Li's running paces as if a painting scroll was being unfolded.
"Today, the Olympic flame lit in Olympia has come to the end of its odyssey and will be kindled to adorn the night sky of Beijing," said Liu Qi, head of the Games' organizing committee, in an earlier speech, saying the cauldron lighting would be a "dazzling historic moment."