China's star athletes and celebrities like table tennis great Deng Yaping and paralyzed gymnast Sang Lan will be among the 148 torchbearers when the Athens Olympic holy flame is carried through Beijing on June 9.

According to the Beijing Organizing Committee for the 2008 Games (BOCOG), some of China's best known athletes, either in service or retired, will carry the olive leaf-shaped torch along with pop singers, journalists, model workers, taxi divers and other residents.

On June 8 and 9, the Olympic flame will visit the Chinese capital for the first time.

Among others listed are Ping-Pong Grand Slam champion Liu Guoliang, star gymnast Teng Haibin, former women's volleyball national team capital Zhang Rongfang, women's basketball team captain Miao Lijie and China's top hurdler Liu Xiang.

Olympic champion diver Tian Liang, 25, will also join such fellow Olympic champions as shooter Wang Yifu, table tennis playerWang Nan, judoka Sun Fuming, and female diver Sang Xue, in the torch relay.

Also picked up for the event are star female swimmer Luo Xuejuan, who collected five world championships gold medals in 2001 and 2003, and men's table tennis world number one Ma Lin.

Of the 148 torchbearers ranging from 14 up to 73 years at age, 17 are from the Olympic Family and the rest are nominated and selected by the Beijing municipal government, the Chinese Olympic Committee or appointed by Olympic sponsors.

Beijing is the fifth city on the around-the-world torch relay route before the start of the Olympic Games on August 13 in Athens.

The Beijing leg torch relay will start in front of the Great Hall of the People in downtown Beijing in the morning of June 9, then follow a 55km route through the Chinese capital before reaching the Summer Palace where a cauldron will be lit.

The Olympic torch relay is to pass through 27 countries outsideGreece, covering a total distance of 78,000 kilometers.

Source: Xinhua