The Chinese Cheng CongFu will carry the Olympic flame

The driver in A1 Grand Prix for China, Cheng CongFu, has been selected to carry the Olympic flame during its long journey from Athens to Beijing.

CongFu Cheng is also in the F3 championship this season, in addition to the A1GP championship, and will carry the Olympic flame as soon as it leaves Greece (the country where the last Summer Olympic Games took place).

« It is a great honor for me to be nominated among the torchbearers. I hope that my role as a driver will help promote mechanical and motor sports in China and thus involve many more people in these sports », he commented.

The Olympic Flame lighting ceremony is a tradition that dates back to 766 BC. It requires the flame to be lit in Olympia (Greece) and then carried, preferably on foot, to the host city of the Olympic Games. The final torchbearer must be of the same nationality as the host country.

Cheng, for his part, will carry the flame from the Panathenaic Stadium (Athens), where the first modern Olympic Games took place in 1896 following the idea of Pierre de Coubertin. – the site of the first modern Olympic Games in Athens in 1896.

More than 605 runners will cover nearly 1,500 kilometers in the first week in Greece. The flame will be lit starting next Monday.