Success! The mountain-climbing torch relay team has made it to the top of the world!

A Tibetan woman took the Olympic torch the last steps to the top of Everest on Thursday, realizing “a dream of all Chinese people”, but Tibetan exiles criticized Beijing for politicizing the Games.

“Long live Tibet!” and “Long live Beijing!”, the climbers, all wearing red, shouted joyously into a TV camera after unfurling the Chinese national flag, the Olympic flag and a flag bearing the Beijing Olympic logo.

The ambitious project to take the torch to the Himalayan peak was cast as the highlight of the relay ahead of the Games, which start in exactly three months’ time, and followed weeks of protests against Beijing’s rule in Tibet.

“We have realized a promise to the world and a dream of all the Chinese people,” base camp commander Li Zhixin told reporters after being mobbed by jubilant friends and colleagues.

Via Countdown to Beijing blog and Reuters.