Does anything truly signal the start of an Olympic Games more than the all important details on the torch relay?
No less than the first 74 locations were announced on Wednesday, starting at the iconic Land’s End, which is the southern most tip of England. The route will encompass every nation and region in the U.K., including island visits, and will see the torch travel 8,000 miles (12,800 km). In short: take that, marathon runners, your 26.1 miles doesn’t look quite so impressive any more (notwithstanding the fact that the nearest NewsFeed has gotten to a marathon is to watch it live.)
(PHOTOS: London builds for 2012)
The snappily named London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (Locog) said that the torch would come within a one-hour journey of 95% of the population. The whole shebang starts on the morning of Saturday 19 May 2012, with the torch arriving the day before from Greece, still the spiritual home of all things Olympic.
“It’s a 70-day journey of celebration,” said Lord Coe, chairman of Locog. “I think the thing we have learned from other relays is it’s releasing that creativity, the excitement, in people’s backyards. I have seen that from relays around the world and I really do want to replicate that.” Unlike some previous relays, the 2012 torch won’t traverse the globe, with organizers presumably keen to avoid the fractious scenes that accompanied the build up to the 2008 Beijing Olympics. (Though it would be hard to hammer the U.K. for its human rights record. Bad weather, on the other hand…)
As for the torch itself, it’s been created by east London designers Edward Barber and Jay Osgerby and is expected to be unveiled this June. The famous flame will then go on the road for roughly 12 hours a day (shows and concerts are also planned for 66 of the 70 days), arriving at its final destination — the Olympic Stadium — on 27 July for the lighting of the cauldron at the opening ceremony. After that, it’s down to the athletes, fans and London itself to ensure that the greatest show on earth is as red hot as the torch that will hopefully light up our lives. (via BBC)
(PHOTOS: Those loony Olympic mascots)
