Pop stars, opera singers, sculptors and businessmen will bear the torch in the shape of an olive leaf from the ancient Marathon site to the port of Piraeus, on to an altar at the Acropolis and finally to the main stadium, they said.

The inclusion of modern style icons such as Campbell and Nicolas Hayek, father of the Swatch watch, is a nod to modernity in a Games steeped in symbols of antiquity, as the Olympics return to their ancient birthplace.

Former U.S. Olympic athletics hero Carl Lewis is also due to hold the emblem of the Games aloft for a short stage of its 53 km journey, which begins on Wednesday and ends with the lighting of the flame of the 49th Olympiad on Friday.

The identity of the person awarded that honour -- the last of some 12,000 who have borne the Olympic flame around the globe in the run up to the Games, remains a secret.