"The Olympic torch relay is something which brings bright and peace. I am really happy, honored and excited to be chosen as a bearer," said the 20-year-old athlete, who was blind at the age of nine.

"I am not able to see the flame, but when I hold the torch, I will certainly feel it, fell the heat," he said. "Being a torchbearer is a pleasant thing for my life, and I will never forget it in the rest of my life."

Okan, with the help from his coach Gokhan Ince, is scheduled to run the 27th stretch. "I am well prepared with knowledge and skills about the torch relay," he said.

Okan has helped his country to win a European goalball champion in 2007 and the third place in a world-level goalball competition in 2005, according to Ince.

Okan, who came to Istanbul from the Turkish capital Ankara for Thursday's torch relay, said he had failed to represent Turkey to compete in the Beijing Paralympic Games, but he would work harder for this end.

Another torchbearer, 63-year-old Hasan Capan, shared the same excitement with Okan.

Capan, a businessman who has benefited from closer economic ties between Turkey and China, said it is exciting and a great honor to be a torchbearer for the Beijing Olympics.

"As a friend of China and the Chinese people, I feel extraordinarily proud to carry the Beijing Olympic torch in my hometown. For Turkey, it is a great honor as Istanbul is chosen as one of the cities to hold the torch relay," he told Xinhua in a raucous voice.

Capan said he has been to China more than 20 times, the first in 1991. "China has been growing so fast, in all aspects, that I couldn't believe it when I saw it with my eyes. Every time I visited China, I found changes and development. It is surprising," he said.

Capan expressed his confidence that the Beijing Olympic Games will be successfully held and become a model host city for the Olympics.

Capan, who will be the 77th torchbearer, also expressed full confidence that he will successfully finish his 200-meter part of the relay. "I can make it as long as three kilometers. I love sports," he said.

Earlier on Tuesday, Yalcin Aksoy, a senior official of the Turkish Olympic Committee (TMOK) who is in charge of Istanbul's torch relay, said the relay will kick off on Thursday afternoon.

According to Aksoy, the starting point of the relay in Istanbul will be the city's signature Sultan Ahmet Square, where TMOK President Togay Bayatli will light the torch and hand it over to the first torch bearer Tugba Karademir, a promising Turkish figure skater aged 23.

Then Karademir and following torchbearers, along with a 2-kilometer-long Olympic convoy, will wind their way through the city and across the Bosporus Bridge, a famous suspension bridge spanning Asia and Europe.

After returning to the European part of Istanbul, the torch will head for the destination, Taksim Square, for the lighting of a ceremonial cauldron. At the end, celebrations and plays will be staged on the square. With it, the Olympic flame will leave for Russia's St. Petersburg.

Aksoy added that Turkey's national TV broadcaster TRT will broadcast live some major parts of the torch relay and enable Turkish people to share the passion and joy.

The 2008 Olympic flame was ignited on March 24 in Ancient Olympia of Greece and was handed over to Beijing on March 31 after a six-day relay in Greece.

The 130-day torch relay will cover 137,000 kilometers before the flame returns to Beijing and enters the National Stadium on Aug. 8 for the Olympics' opening ceremony.

A total of 21,880 torchbearers will be participating in the unprecedented relay, which is being held under the theme of "Journey of Harmony".

(Xinhua News Agency April 3, 2008)