ST. LOUIS, June 17 (UPI) -- The Olympic flame began making a 34-mile circuit in St. Louis Thursday, the city that hosted the first modern-era Olympics in the United States.
Greek ambassador Spiros Lambridis presented the torch to Mayor Francis Slay in front of a 747 jumbo jet christened "Zeus."
St. Louis held the 1904 Olympic Games.
Actor and comedian Joe Torry stepped off from the gleaming Gateway Arch, the first 125 runners chosen to carry the flame on a winding route to the America's Center.
Each runner passed the silver torch after a quarter mile.
Torry called his two-block run with the torch "the proudest moment of my life," the St. Louis Post-Dispatch said.
Runners planned to stop in several locations around the city before closing ceremonies at Forest Park. St. Louis is the second stop on the flame's four-city tour.
