2004 Summer Olympics torch relay
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The 2004 Summer Olympics Torch Relay, prior to the 2004 Summer Olympics, took the Olympic Flame across every habitable continent, returning to Athens, Greece. For the first time every city which had hosted, will host, or coincidentally elected to host the Summer Olympics until the 2028 Summer Olympics was visited or revisited by the torch, as well as several other cities chosen for their international importance. The main reason the torch relay went around the world was to highlight the fact that the Ancient Olympic Games started in Greece, and in modern times have been held around the world but finally took place again in Greece in 2004.
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| Host city | Athens, Greece |
|---|---|
| Countries visited | Greece, Australia, Japan, South Korea, China, India, Egypt, South Africa, Brazil, Mexico, United States, Canada, Belgium, Netherlands, Switzerland, France, United Kingdom, Spain, Italy, Germany, Sweden, Finland, Russia, Ukraine, Turkey, Bulgaria, Cyprus and Albania |
| Start date | 25 March 2004 |
| End date | 13 August 2004 |
The relay was the first time the Olympic flame had travelled to Africa and South America. The flame was transported from country to country aboard a specially equipped Boeing 747 leased from Atlanta Icelandic (Registration TF-ARO) called Zeus. On board the flame was carried and burned continuously in specially modified miners' lamps.
Route in Greece (first phase)
| Date | Map |
|---|---|
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25 March: Olympia, Elis, Pyrgos, Andritsaina |
International route
The International Leg of the 2004 Olympic Torch Relay officially began on 4 June 2004, when the flame touched down in Sydney, Australia, previous host city of the 2000 Summer Olympics. In Sydney, it visited Stadium Australia, the 2000 Summer Olympics main venue, prior to the National Rugby League match between the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs and Sydney Roosters;[1] in Melbourne, it visited the Melbourne Cricket Ground, the 1956 Summer Olympics main venue, at half-time of the Australian Football League match between Hawthorn and Essendon.[2]
Route in Oceania
| Date | Map |
|---|---|
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4 June: Sydney, Australia (host city of the 2000 Summer Olympics) |
Route in Asia
| Date | Map |
|---|---|
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6 June: Tokyo, Japan (host city of the 1964 and 2021 Summer Olympics) |
Route in Africa
Route in the Americas
| Date | Map |
|---|---|
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13 June: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (host city of the 2016 Summer Olympics) |
Route in Europe (excluding Greece)
| Date | Map |
|---|---|
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21 June: Antwerp, Belgium (host city of the 1920 Summer Olympics) |
The International Leg of the 2004 Olympic Torch Relay concluded on July 8, 2004, just over a month after it began its global journey and just over a month before the 2004 Summer Olympics opening ceremony on 13 August 2004.
Route in Greece (second phase)
After visiting Cyprus, the Greek Leg of the Torch Relay resumed on 9 July 2004, with the flame touching down in Crete in the city of Heraklion. During the Greek Leg of the relay, the torch also made a cursory stopover in Albania when the torch was carried through a lake on the Greek-Albanian border.
Aftermath
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The International Olympic Committee has indicated that, due to the success of the 2004 run, they might sanction a global circumnavigation of the flame before every succeeding Olympics. However, those plans were abandoned in March 2009 due to the protests in the international leg of the torch relay of the 2008 Summer Olympics (with an exception made for the 2010 Youth Olympic Games).[3][4]