Yang Liwei, China's first astronaut, will run the opening leg of the Olympic torch relay in Beijing, which starts at 8 am today at the Meridian Gate of the Forbidden City.

Basketball star Yao Ming, who some media said would run the first leg, will be the ninth torchbearer.

"Yang helped China realize its dream to travel in space, and now we are living another dream of hosting the Games," Sun Xuecai, deputy director of the Beijing sports administration, told a news conference yesterday.