| The Three Phases of the Torch Relay
The first phase lasted 7 days (25 to 31 March
2004), during which the Flame travelled around the Peloponnese, to the
islands of the Saronic Gulf, and was handed over by the Hellenic Olympic
Committee President to the ATHOC President in a ceremony at the Panathinaiko
Stadium on 31 March 2004. The Flame remained there, burning in a special
cauldron, for 64 days.
On 2 June, the Flame was carried by the Chief
Operating Officer to the Athens International Airport, and was delivered
to the Torch Relay Team by the President of ATHOC. In a modest ceremony
attended by the Ambassadors of the countries the Flame was about to visit.
In the early hours of 3 June 2004, the second phase began, setting off
for Sydney, the host city of the last Games in 2000. The Torch travelled
to Melbourne, to Tokyo, to Seoul and Beijing, the bustling streets of Delhi
and Cairo - its first visit on African soil - and Cape Town.
 
Torch Relay Pins
Crossing the Atlantic Ocean, the Flame landed
in colourful Rio de Janeiro, Mexico City, and then the American cities
of Los Angeles, St. Louis, Atlanta and New York. Having visited Montreal,
the Olympic Flame returned to Europe passing trough: Antwerp, Brussels,
Amterdam, Geneva, Lausanne, Paris, London, Barcelona, Rome, Munich, Berlin,
Stockholm and Helsinki. In the last part of its international route, it
visited Moscow, Kiev, Istanbul, Sofia and Nicosia.
On 9 July, the Flame returned to Greece, and
began the third and final phase of the Torch Relay in Crete in the Olympic
city of Heraklio. From there, it began the second leg of the Greek route,
a trip lasting 36 days. In Greece, the Flame lit up all 54 prefectures,
stopped at 174 destinations, including 32 islands and 24 archaeological
and historical sites. Altogether it covered 6.600 kilometres on Greek
Territory - 2.500 km on foot, 2.800 km in convoy and 1.300 km by helicopter.
The first truly Global Torch Relay was completed
on 13 August 2004, when the Greek Olympic Gold Medallist (Mistral) Nikolaos
Kaklamanakis lit the Cauldron at the Olympic Stadium, watchedby 4 billion
TV viewers during the Opening Ceremony of the Olympic Games.
Soursce document: Official
Report 2004, Vol. II, page 105 |
