Stefka Kostadinova, president of the Bulgarian Olympic Committee, joined the start of the Olympic flame journey for the 2006 Turin Winter Olympics.

In Rome, the Olympic flame was sent off on its 64-day journey by IOC President Jacques Rogge and Italy's President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi.

Kostadinova, whose world record in high-jump is still unbeaten, took over the torch from the president of the Slovene national Olympic committee and handed it to her Luxembourg counterpart.

Italian marathon gold medallist at the Athens Games, Stefano Baldini, was the first torchbearer in the memorable journey.

"May this flame remind everybody of the values of peace and brotherhood that are at the basis of the Olympics," Pope Benedict XVI blessed the flame in front of a crowd in St. Peter's Square.

The Olympic Torch Relay will tour the length and breadth of Italy for 64 days. It will cover a total distance of 11,300 km, visiting 140 cities, 107 provinces and all of Italy's regions, as well as the neighbouring countries of San Marino, Slovenia, Austria, Switzerland and France. There will be 10,001 torchbearers, who will carry the flame to Turin, where it will arrive on 10 February 2006.

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