Bollywood hunk Akshay Kumar ran from Red Fort Delhi to the narrow, spruced-up lanes of Chandni Chowk by carrying 'Flame of Hope', the Special Olympics torch for next year's World Winter Games on Sunday, 21 December.

The torch, which arrived in Delhi on Sunday morning, commenced its journey on November 12 this year with a lighting ceremony in Athens, Greece.

According to sources, the Flame of Hope was lit by the sun rays near Olympia, Greece and will remain lit until the end of the Games on February 13.  

The 2009 Special Olympics World Winter Games, to be held in Idaho, US from February 7-13, will host almost 3,000 athletes with intellectual disabilities from more than 100 countries.  

The sources further disclosed that 60,000 kilometers journey of the torch will cover more than 10 cities across five continents before ending its worldwide journey on January 27 at Idaho.  
 
While lecturing on the games, Mr. Akshay Kumar, the brand ambassador of the Games, stated, “I feel people should come forward and encourage these millions of special children and inspire them to lead a normal life like you and me because they have the right to have such a life.”

According to reports, the next stop for the flame of hope will be Shanghai, China.