Forty-four-year-old Qi Chunxia, a shooting coach, ran the first leg of the Olympic Torch Relay in Yinchuan as the flame's last stop on the torch's journey in Ningxia began.

"I hope that the Olympic Torch Relay in Ningxia will inspire people's passion and love for sports," said Qi, who started her shooting career in 1981 and retired in 2001 to become a coach.

The Yinchuan leg is 13 kilometers long and involves 226 torchbearers. Wang Youde, who has made notable contributions to desert sand control, and Qiu Zhixin, a model agricultural worker, will also participate in the relay here.