Olympic champion swimmer Luo Xuejuan kicks off Hangzhou Asian Games torch relay in ‘glorious mission’
- Luo thanks organisers and fans as 11-city relay gets under way in her hometown of Hangzhou on Friday morning
- Total of 2,022 torch-bearers will take part in all, before torch returns to Hangzhou for opening ceremony of delayed Games
Former Olympic champion swimmer Luo Xuejuan kicked off the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games torch relay on Friday morning, with thousands of people lining the streets of the host city in China.
A 9am launch ceremony was held at Yongjin Park Plaza in West Lake, Hangzhou before the start of the first relay leg of 5.1 kilometres got under way.
A total of 106 torch-bearers took part on the first day, with 2,022 to feature in all over the entire relay, which will move through 11 cities.
The next leg takes place in Huzhou, before the relay will move on to Jiaxing, Shaoxing, Ningbo, Zhoushan, Taizhou, Wenzhou, Lishui, Jinhua, and then Quzhou.
The torch will then return to Hangzhou on September 20 for the last leg of the transfer, before being lit at the opening ceremony of the Games on September 23.
The 39-year-old Luo, also a former world champion and a former world record holder in the women’s 50m breaststroke, started the first leg in her hometown on Friday.