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The Olympic torch relay is the ceremonial relaying of the Olympic flame from Olympia, Greece, to the site of an Olympic Games. It was introduced at the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, as a way for Adolf Hitler to highlight the Nazi claim of Aryan connections of Germany to Greece.[1] It has taken place prior to every Games since.
Although in the past some Olympic organizing committees organized torch relays which encompassed multiple countries, the International Olympic Committee now restricts international relays due to the protests during the 2008 Summer Olympics torch relay, in which the relay was met with protests at several international sites on its way to Beijing.[2]
Summer Olympic Games
[edit]Site of the Olympic Games | Days | Total length (in km) | Total number of torchbearers | Route |
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8 | 3,422 | 3,422 | Olympia – Athens – Thessaloniki (Greece) – Sofia (Bulgaria) – Belgrade (Yugoslavia) – Budapest (Hungary) – Vienna (Austria) – Prague (Czechoslovakia) – Dresden – Berlin (Germany)
Two secondary relays carried the flame from Olympic Stadium in Berlin to the off-site aquatic venues: Grunau (for the rowing course), and Kiel (yachting). The cauldron in Kiel sat in an old Hanseatic galley in the bay. Kiel would also be the yachting site of the 1972 Munich Olympics. |
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13 | 7,870 | 3,372 | Olympia – Corfu (Greece) (by ship) Bari – Milan (Italy) – Lausanne – Geneva (Switzerland) – Besançon – Metz (France) – Luxembourg (Luxembourg) – Brussels (Belgium) – Lille – Calais (France) (by ship)– Dover – London (Great Britain)
A second relay carried the flame from Wembley, where the Games were based, to the sailing centre at Torbay, via Slough, Basingstoke, Salisbury, and Exeter. |
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5 | 3,365 | 1,416 | Olympia - Athens (Greece) (by airplane) Aalborg - Odense - Copenhagen (Denmark) (by ship) Malmö - Gothenburg - Stockholm (Sweden) - Tornio - Oulu - Helsinki (Finland). A second flame was lit in Pallastunturi (Finland) and joined the main one in Tornio |
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21 | 20,470 | 3,118 | Olympia - Athens (Greece) (by airplane) Darwin - Brisbane - Sydney - Canberra - Melbourne (Australia) |
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9 | 1,000 | 490 | Olympia - Athens (Greece) (by airplane) Copenhagen (Denmark) (by ship) Malmö - Stockholm (Sweden) |
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14 | 2,750 | 1,529 | Olympia - Athens (Greece) (by ship) Syracuse - Catania - Messina - Reggio Calabria - Naples - Rome (Italy) |
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51 | 20,065 | 870 | Olympia - Athens (Greece) (by airplane) Istanbul (Turkey) - Beirut (Lebanon) - Tehran (Iran) - Lahore (Pakistan) - New Delhi (India) - Rangoon (Burma) - Bangkok (Thailand) - Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) - Manila (Philippines) - Hong Kong (Hong Kong) - Taipei (Taiwan) - Okinawa - Tokyo (Japan, following four different routes) |
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51 | 13,620 | 2,778 | Olympia - Athens (Greece) (by ship) Genoa (Italy) (by ship) Barcelona - Madrid - Seville - Palos (by ship) Las Palmas (Spain) - San Salvador Island (Bahamas) - Veracruz - Mexico City (Mexico) |
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30 | 5,532 | 6,000 | Olympia - Athens - Thessaloniki (Greece) - Istanbul (Turkey) - Varna (Bulgaria) - Bucharest - Timișoara (Romania) - Belgrade (Yugoslavia) - Budapest (Hungary) - Vienna - Linz - Salzburg - Innsbruck (Austria) - Garmisch-Partenkirchen - Munich (West Germany) |
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5 | 775 | 1,214 | Olympia - Athens (Greece) (satellite transmission of an electronic pulse) Ottawa (Ontario) - Montreal (Quebec) (Canada) |
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31 | 4,915 | 5,000 | Olympia - Athens - Thessaloniki (Greece) - Sofia (Bulgaria) - Bucharest (Romania) - Kishinev - Vinnytsia - Kiev - Tula - Moscow (USSR) |
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83 | 15,000 | 3,636 | Olympia - Athens (Greece) (by airplane) New York – Boston – Philadelphia – Washington – Detroit – Chicago – Indianapolis – Atlanta – St. Louis – Dallas – Denver – Salt Lake City – Seattle – San Francisco – San Diego - Los Angeles (USA) |
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26 | 15,250 | 1,467 | Olympia - Athens (Greece) (by airplane) Jeju - Busan - Seoul (South Korea) |
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51 | 6,307 | 10,448 | Olympia - Athens (Greece) (by ship) Empúries - Bilbao - A Coruña - Madrid - Seville (by airplane) Las Palmas - Málaga - Valencia (by ship) Palma de Mallorca – Barcelona (Spain) |
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112 | 29,016 | 13,267 | Olympia - Athens (Greece) (by airplane) Los Angeles (California) – Las Vegas (Nevada) – San Francisco (California) – Seattle (Washington) – Salt Lake City (Utah) – Denver (Colorado) – Dallas (Texas) – St. Louis (Missouri) – Minneapolis (Minnesota) – Chicago (Illinois) – Detroit (Michigan) - Boston (Massachusetts) – New York (New York) – Philadelphia (Pennsylvania) – Washington – Miami (Florida) – Birmingham (Alabama) - Atlanta (Georgia) (USA) |
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127 | 27,000 | 13,300 | Olympia - Athens (Greece) (by airplane) Guam - Palau - Federated States of Micronesia - Nauru - Solomon Islands -Papua New Guinea - Vanuatu - Samoa - American Samoa - Cook Islands - Tonga - Queenstown - Christchurch - Wellington - Rotorua - Auckland (New Zealand) - Uluru (Northern Territory) - Brisbane (Queensland) - Darwin (Northern Territory) - Perth (Western Australia) - Adelaide (South Australia) - Melbourne (Victoria) - Canberra (Capital Territory) - Sydney (New South Wales) (Australia) |
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142 | 86,000 | 11,360 | Olympia - Marathonas - Athens (Greece) (by airplane) Sydney - Melbourne (Australia) - Tokyo (Japan) - Seoul (South Korea) - Beijing (People's Republic of China) - Delhi (India) - Cairo (Egypt) - Cape Town (South Africa) - Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) - Mexico City (Mexico) - Los Angeles - St. Louis - Atlanta - New York (USA) - Montreal (Canada) - Antwerp - Brussels (Belgium) - Amsterdam (Netherlands) - Lausanne - Geneva (Switzerland) - Paris (France) - London (Great Britain) - Madrid - Barcelona (Spain) - Rome (Italy) - Munich - Berlin (Germany) - Stockholm (Sweden) - Helsinki (Finland) - Moscow (Russia) - Kyiv (Ukraine) - Istanbul (Turkey) - Sofia (Bulgaria) - Nicosia (Cyprus) - Iraklion - Thessaloniki - Patras - Athens (Greece) |
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130 | 137,000 | 21,880 | Olympia - Athens (Greece) (by airplane) - Beijing (People's Republic of China) (by airplane) - Almaty (Kazakhstan) (by airplane) - Istanbul (Turkey) (by airplane) - Saint Petersburg (Russia) (by airplane) - London (Great Britain) (by airplane) – Paris (France) (by airplane) – San Francisco (USA) (by airplane) – Buenos Aires (Argentina) (by airplane) – Dar es Salaam (Tanzania) (by airplane) – Muscat (Oman) (by airplane) – Islamabad (Pakistan) (by airplane) – New Delhi (India) (by airplane) – Bangkok (Thailand) (by airplane) – Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) (by airplane) – Jakarta (Indonesia) (by airplane) – Canberra (Australia) (by airplane) – Nagano (Japan) (by airplane) – Seoul (South Korea) (by airplane) – Pyongyang (North Korea) (by airplane) – Ho Chi Minh City (Vietnam) (by airplane) – Hong Kong (Hong Kong, China) (by ship) – Macau (Macau, China) (by airplane) – Sanya - Wuzhishan - Wanning - Haikou (Hainan) (by airplane) – Guangzhou - Shenzhen - Huizhou - Shantou (Guangdong) (by airplane) – Fuzhou - Quanzhou - Xiamen - Longyan (Fujian) (by airplane) – Ruijin - Jinggangshan - Nanchang (Jiangxi) (by airplane) – Wenzhou - Shaoxing - Hangzhou - Ningbo - Jiaxing (Zhejiang) (by airplane) – Shanghai (by airplane) – Suzhou - Nantong - Taizhou - Yangzhou - Nanjing (Jiangsu) (by airplane) – Hefei - Huainan - Wuhu - Jixi - Huangshan (Anhui) (by airplane) – Wuhan - Yichang - Jingzhou (Hubei) (by airplane) – Yueyang - Changsha - Shaoshan (Hunan) (by airplane) – Guilin - Nanning - Baise (Guangxi) (by airplane) – Kunming - Lijiang - Shangri-La (Yunnan) (by airplane) – Guiyang - Kaili - Zunyi (Guizhou) (by airplane) – Chongqing (by airplane) – Ürümqi - Kashgar - Shihezi - Changji (Xinjiang) (by airplane) – Lhasa (Tibet) (by airplane) – Golmud - Qinghai Lake - Xining (Qinghai) (by airplane) – Yuncheng - Pingyao - Taiyuan - Datong (Shanxi) (by airplane) – Jiuquan (by airplane) – Zhongwei - Wuzhong - Yinchuan (Ningxia) (by airplane) – Yan'an - Yangling - Xianyang - Xi'an (Shaanxi) (by airplane) – Dunhuang - Jiayuguan - Lanzhou (Gansu) (by airplane) – Hohhot - Ordos - Baotou - Chifeng (Inner Mongolia) (by airplane) – Harbin - Daqing - Qiqihar (Heilongjiang) (by airplane) – Changchun - Songyuan - Jilin - Yanji (Jilin) (by airplane) – Shenyang - Anshan - Dalian (Liaoning) (by airplane) –Qingdao - Linyi - Qufu - Tai'an - Jinan (Shandong) (by airplane) – Zhengzhou - Kaifeng - Luoyang - Anyang (Henan) (by airplane) – Shijiazhuang - Qinhuangdao - Tangshan (Hebei) (by airplane) – Tianjin (by airplane) – Guang'an - Leshan - Chengdu (Sichuan) (by airplane) – Beijing (People's Republic of China)
Sichuan route postponed to the end due to earthquake. |
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70 | 12,800 | 8,000 | Olympia - Athens (Greece) (by aeroplane) - Land's End - Plymouth - Exeter - Taunton - Bristol - Cheltenham - Worcester - Malvern (England) (by train) - Cardiff - Swansea - Aberystwyth - Bangor (Wales) (by train) - Chester - Stoke-on-Trent - Bolton - Liverpool (England) (by ship) - Douglas (Isle of Man) (by ship) - Portrush - Derry - Newry (Northern Ireland) (by airplane) - Dublin (Republic of Ireland) (by airplane) - Belfast (Northern Ireland) (by airplane) - Glasgow - Inverness - Kirkwall - Lerwick - Stornoway - Aberdeen - Dundee - Edinburgh (Scotland) (by train) - Alnwick - Newcastle - Durham - Middlesbrough - Hull - York - Carlisle - Bowness-on-Windermere - Blackpool - Manchester - Leeds - Sheffield - Cleethorpes - Lincoln - Nottingham - Derby - Birmingham - Coventry - Leicester - Peterborough - Norwich - Ipswich - Chelmsford - Cambridge - Luton - Oxford - Reading - Basingstoke - Winchester - Salisbury - Weymouth and Portland - Bournemouth - Southampton (England) (by ship) - Saint Peter Port (Guernsey) (by ship) - Saint Helier (Jersey) (by ship) - Portsmouth - Brighton and Hove - Brighton - Hastings - Dover - Maidstone - Guildford - London (England) (Great Britain) |
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106 | 20,000 | 12,000 | Olympia - Athens (Greece) (by airplane) - Lausanne - Geneva (Switzerland) (by airplane) - Brasilia (Federal District) - Goiânia (Goias) - Belo Horizonte (Minas Gerais) - Vitória (Espírito Santo) - Salvador (Bahia) - Aracaju (Sergipe) - Maceió (Alagoas) - Recife (Pernambuco) - Joao Pessoa (Paraíba) - Natal (Rio Grande do Norte) - Fernando de Noronha - Fortaleza (Ceará) - Teresina (Piauí) - Palmas (Tocantins) - São Luís (Maranhão) - Belém (Para) - Macapá (Amapá) - Boa Vista (Roraima) - Manaus (Amazonas) - Rio Branco (Acre) - Porto Velho (Rondônia) - Cuiabá (Mato Grosso) - Campo Grande (Mato Grosso do Sul)- Porto Alegre (Rio Grande do Sul) - Florianópolis (Santa Catarina) - Curitiba (Paraná) - São Paulo (São Paulo) - Rio de Janeiro (Rio de Janeiro) (Brazil) |
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111 | 20,000 | - | Olympia (Greece) - Athens (Greece) (by airplane) - Fukushima (Fukushima) - Utsunomiya (Tochigi) - Maebashi (Gunma) - Nagano (Nagano) - Gifu (Gifu) - Nagoya (Aichi) – Nara (Nara) – Osaka (Osaka) – Kōchi (Kōchi) – Matsuyama (Ehime) – Kagoshima (Kagoshima) – Naha (Okinawa) – Nagasaki (Nagasaki) – Fukuoka (Fukuoka) – Hiroshima (Hiroshima) – Kobe (Hyōgo) – Kyoto (Kyoto) – Fukui (Fukui) – Kanazawa (Ishikawa) – Yamagata (Yamagata) – Akita (Akita) – Sapporo (Hokkaido) – Morioka (Iwate) – Sendai (Miyagi) – Shizuoka (Shizuoka) – Yokohama (Kanagawa) – Chiba (Chiba) – Saitama (Saitama) – Tokyo (Japan)
Irregular period, relay in Greece started on 12 March 2020 in Ancient Olympia, then curtailed in Sparta the next day, and later finished in Athens without spectators on 19 March 2020, the relay went later suspended on 25 March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic after the Olympics postponed to 2021. Japan relay started on 25 March 2021 in Naraha and ended on 23 July 2021 during the opening ceremony. |
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79 | - | 10,000 | Olympia (Greece) – Marseille (by ship) (Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur) – Paris (Île-de-France) (France) |
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- | - | - | Olympia (Greece) – Los Angeles (USA) |
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- | - | - | Olympia (Greece) – Brisbane (Australia) |
Winter Olympic Games
[edit]- ^ a b c d For the 1994 Lillehammer Games, the flame for the national torch relay was lit at Sondre Norheim's birthplace in Morgedal, where the official 1952 & 1960 flames were lit in the same manner. The original plan to merge it with the official Olympia flame at Oslo was abandoned due to Greek opposition; only the official flame was used in the opening ceremony. All statistics are for the national torch relay only. The Morgedal flame was maintained and later used at the 1994 Winter Paralympics.
Youth Summer Olympic Games
[edit]Site of the Olympic Games | Days | Total length (in km) | Total number of torchbearers | Route |
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22 | 26,700+ | 2,400+ | Olympia (Greece) – Berlin (Germany) - Dakar (Senegal) - Mexico City (Mexico) - Auckland (New Zealand) - Seoul (South Korea) - Singapore |
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108 | 104 | Athens (Greece) - 258 different online locations from the 204 participating NOCs - Nanjing (People's Republic of China) | |
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63 | 14,000 | - | Athens (Greece) - La Plata (Buenos Aires) - Parana (Entre Rios) - Santa Fe (Santa Fe) - Iguazu (Misiones) - Corrientes (Corrientes) - Jujuy (Jujuy) - Salta (Salta) - Tucuman (Tucuman) - Catamarca (Catamarca) - La Rioja (La Rioja) - Mendoza (Mendoza) - San Juan (San Juan) - Cordoba (Cordoba) - Neuquen (Neuquen) - Bariloche (Rio Negro) - Ushuaia (Tierra del Fuego) - Buenos Aires (Federal Capital) (Argentina) |
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- | - | - | Athens (Greece) - Dakar (Senegal) |
Youth Winter Olympic Games
[edit]Site of the Olympic Games | Days | Total length (in km) | Total number of torchbearers | Route |
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18 | 3,573 | 2,012 | Olympia (Greece) - Innsbruck - Bregenz - St. Anton am Arlberg - Lienz - Klagenfurt - Semmering - Wien - Graz - Eisenstadt - St. Pölten - Linz - Salzburg - Schladming - Seefeld in Tirol - Kühtai - Kufstein - Innsbruck (Austria) |
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74 | - | - | Athens (Greece) - Lillehammer - Alta - Oslo - Gjøvik - Otta - Elverum - Trysil - Lillehammer (Norway) |
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110 | - | - | Athens (Greece) - Lausanne - Morges - Nyon – Yverdon-les-Bains - Payerne - Aigle - Ollon - University of Lausanne - Échallens - Château-d'Œx - Prilly - Bourg-en-Lavaux - Lausanne - Geneva - Neuchâtel - Lausanne (Switzerland) |
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47 | - | - | Athens (Greece) - Gangwon Province (South Korea) |
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ Bowlby, Chris. "The Olympic torch's shadowy past", BBC News, 2008-03-05. Retrieved on 2009-10-21.
- ^ Zinser, Lynn (March 27, 2009). "I.O.C. Bars International Torch Relays". The New York Times. Retrieved August 3, 2012.
- ^ "Lillehammer 1994 Olympic Torch". Archived from the original on 2012-03-06. Retrieved 2011-07-19.
- ^ "A Torch for the XVII Olympic Winter Games - Lillehammer, Norway, 1994". Archived from the original on 2011-07-20. Retrieved 2011-07-19.
- ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2010-12-02. Retrieved 2010-12-10.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ "2002 Olympic Torch Relay Route". PR Newswire. Archived from the original on 14 October 2012. Retrieved 24 November 2008.
- ^ "Provincial and territorial routes", Vancouver 2010 official site, listing the exact stops on the tour.