The Olympic flame returned to Australia today for the first leg of a six-week global relay leading up to the Athens Games in August.
The torch was officially received by Australia's acting Prime Minister John Anderson before being transported to the Sydney Opera House for a brief ceremony with Aboriginal and Greek dancers and the start of the relay.
The first torchbearer was Cathy Freeman, who lit the cauldron at the start of the 2000 Sydney Olympics before winning a gold medal in the 400 metres.
She set the torch alight and set off on a short jog around the harbour foreshore before handing over to the next runner.
The torch was passed from one bearer to the next on a specially marked route that passed through Sydney's most famous landmarks including the Harbour Bridge and Bondi Beach.
It ended at Sydney's Olympic stadium where former Australia cricket captain Steve Waugh relit the cauldron in front of thousands of spectators.
The flame will travel to Melbourne, host of the 1956 Olympics, tomorrow before leaving Australia for Tokyo on a whistle-stop tour that will take in 33 cities and all five continents in 34 days.
The flame arrives in Greece on July 9th for a final homecoming tour before entering the Olympic stadium to light the cauldron on August 13th.