October 31 - Dame Kelly Holmes (pictured) thinks that a group of Britain's greatest athletes, including herself, Sir Steve Redgrave and Sebastian Coe, should light the Olympic flame at London 2012.

 

Dame Kelly wants to be part of a group of British Olympic legends, all tasked with lighting the flame simultaneously at the Olympic Stadium in Stratford in 1,000 days' time.

 

She said: "In Britain we've got some really good established Olympic champions.

 

"Everybody could probably give you five or six people who could be up there to light the flame.

 

"Give it to us all.

 

"It's a whole nation celebrating success.

 

"If we brought success to the country and are remembered because of that then get us to do it as a group.''

 

Dame Kelly currently is second favourite, behind five-time gold medal rower Sir Steve, with most bookmakers to become the flame lighter, a job which has taken on iconic status in recent years with Muhammad Ali performing the role at Atlanta in 1996 and Cathy Freeman unifying an Australian nation in Sydney in 2000.

 

In Beijing the job was done by China's Li Ning, a triple gold medallist who ran around the rim of the Bird's Nest stadium suspended from wires before lighting up the Beijing sky.

 

Under the proposal by Dame Kelly, who won the 800 and 1500 metres at the 2004 Olympics in Athens, she would be part of a group that would include her, Sir Steve, Coe, double Olympic decathlon champion Daley Thompson and Dame Tanni Grey-Thompson, Britain's most successful ever Paralympic athlete with 16 medals, 11 of them gold.

 

Dame Kelly said: "As a young kid I had a passion to be an Olympic champion.

 

"It's been my absolute life and now I'm dedicated to help young people achieve their dream.

 

"It's once in a lifetime to have an Olympic Games in your country, isn't it?"

 

Dame Kelly carried the Olympic Torch when it passed through London last year on its controversial journey to Beijing but doing it in the main Stadium in 2012 would be even better, she claimed.

 

Dame Kelly said: "To be part of lighting the Olympic flame would be greater than my wildest dreams.

 

"It would mean everything.

 

"If we were all the people who got to hold that torch and light the big flame, for the general public that would be the best thing.''