The third day of Winter Olympic torch relay began in the Summer Palace in the northwestern Beijing on Friday morning.

The first torchbearer is former table tennis world champion Ding Ning, who is also an Olympic gold medalist. She believes the Winter Olympics will ignite public passion for ice and snow sports.

The Olympic Games is an international platform for communication and friendship. I hope athletes can try their best and enjoy the Games, so that more people can feel the charm of sports and the splendor of the Games, she said.

A total of 97 torchbearers participated in the relay, traveling over a distance of 6.182 km.