Sunny, warm weather embraced London on Thursday amid last-minute preparations for the Summer Olympic Games, now less than 24 hours away.

Crowds cheered on the Olympic torch as it wound its way past some of the capital's most famous landmarks.

The torch began its journey in Britain on May 19 at Land's End, the most southwest point of England, and trekked through more than 1,000 cities, towns and villages in the United Kingdom. By the time it reaches the Olympic Stadium, 8,000 torchbearers -- both celebrities and residents alike -- will have carried it.

Early Olympic football matches continued Thursday, with men's teams playing a day after the women's teams.

Torch goes past palace, Big Ben

Runners carried the golden-colored Olympic torch past iconic London landmarks Thursday as the torch relay got ever closer to the Olympic Stadium for Friday's opening ceremony.

After the torch passed by the 300-year-old St. Paul's Cathedral, wheelchair basketball player Ade Adepitan carried the flame across the Millennium Bridge over the River Thames.

Crowds joined British Prime Minister David Cameron and his wife as the torch reached the doorstep of their Downing Street home. Next, the torch went past the Big Ben clock tower, carried by 81-year-old native Londoner Florence Rowe, who says she fondly remembers the excitement of the 1948 London Olympics.

The last major stop was Buckingham Palace, where Prince William, his wife Catherine, the Duchess of Cambridge, and Prince Harry greeted the torchbearers.

U.S. lawmakers remember Munich killings

Sixteen members of the U.S. House of Representatives held a moment of silence Thursday to honor the 11 Israeli athletes killed at the 1972 Munich Olympics and urged Olympic leaders to hold a similar moment of silence at Friday's opening ceremony.

American Jewish leaders and the widow of one of the Israeli athletes have made a similar plea.

The International Olympic Committee says it will honor the slain athletes at a ceremony in September for the 40th anniversary, but so far there are no plans for an official remembrance Friday.

The Israeli athletes were killed after eight Palestinian terrorists disguised in track suits broke into the Olympic Village in Munich, demanding the release of 200 Arab inmates from Israeli prisons.

Men's football kicks off

While the Games will officially begin with the cauldron lighting at ceremony Friday at Olympic Stadium, some events have already begun.

Thursday saw the start of the men's football competition, with global favorites Spain and Brazil playing, though not against each other.

Spain, which won the European Championship this year and the last World Cup, suffered a surprising 1-0 defeat to Japan in one of eight games scheduled Thursday.

Brazil -- which, like Spain, is considered a likely contender to win Olympic gold -- beat Egypt 3-2. Great Britain, playing football in the Olympics for the first time since 1960, scored a 1-1 draw in its match against Senegal.

Two notable absences are Argentina and the United States, neither of which qualified.