Route for Olympic torch relay announced

Posted by elena On Wednesday, May 18th 2011 in Sports

Organisers of the London Olympics have announced 74 locations on the route of the Olympic torch relay. The traditional relay will take place next year, just before the London Olympics and, unlike some of the past Olympic relays, will only include locations in the UK (except, potentially, Dublin).

The route will go through every region in the United Kingdom and cover a distance of around 8,000 miles. All the important British cities will be included, as well as six islands. According to the organising committee for the Olympics, 95% of the UK's population will get to be just one hour away from the torch at some point during the relay.

Before the start of the relay, the torch will travel from Greece to Britain, where it will arrive on May 18. The relay will begin at Land's End in Cornwall on May 19, 2012. It will take 70 days for the torch to reach London's Olympic Stadium for the opening ceremony. The 2012 Olympic Games will begin on July 27, when the torch will be used to light the cauldron in the stadium.

The Olympic torch will be carried from location to location by a total of 8,000 people. Half of them will be young people, aged 12 to 24. According to the organisers, 7,200 of the torchbearers will not be VIPs, but ordinary people nominated by members of their community. A nomination website was set up for this purpose.

The route announced on Wednesday is not exhaustive. Not all the details have been released so far and further locations need to be added. A more elaborate route will be made public later in 2011. The organisers are considering including the Irish capital of Dublin on the list of locations. The organising committee says that the relay is meant as a celebration. Various entertainment events are scheduled for 66 days of the 70-day trip.

The tradition of the torch relay dates back to the Olympic events in Ancient Greece. Messengers would travel all over the country to announce the competition and demand for wars to come to a halt. The tradition was brought back at the Berlin Olympics in 1936. The torch for the 2012 Olympics is currently being designed by Edward Barber and Jay Osgerby, who won last year's competitive tender to create it. The final result will be shown to the public in June of this year.