ATHENS, 2 June 2004 — The Olympic flame is set to blaze a global trail today during a six-week odyssey before it returns for the Aug. 13 opening ceremony.
Sydney 400 meters champion Cathy Freeman will run the opening leg of a relay which will travel to 33 cities in 34 days and take the torch to all five continents for the first time.
Celebrities from US movie star Angelina Jolie to Japanese pop singer Yukio Hashi will join the 3,600 torchbearers.
An estimated $45 million will be spent on taking the skittle-shaped torch, inspired by an olive leaf, around the world on its own private jumbo jet dubbed Zeus.
Aviation authorities had to issue a special permit to allow the gas-fired torch to keep burning while it is flying.
It will ride the skies in a special lantern with a team of attendants making sure the light of Apollo is not extinguished by accident. The chrome and olive wood torches can burn for up to 15 hours.
Far from the lone runner of popular imagination the torch procession will resemble a US presidential motorcade as each bearer is flanked by escort runners and a fleet of 15 backup vehicles.
Previous torch processions at Sydney and Atlanta were largely domestic affairs with a brief international leg.
This time the flame is set to debut in Africa and Latin America with stops at Cape Town in South Africa and Rio de Janeiro in Brazil.
Thousands of runners selected for “inspirational community work” will also jog their way into the spotlight.
Among the highlights will be a mass beach party in Rio, which organizers promise will rival the famous annual carnival for spectacle.
Runners will include Ronaldo, Pele and Zico who will be joined by local samba schools on the Rio sands.
Future hosts Beijing are expected to showcase their preparations for 2008 with a procession that winds up at the summer palace.
Legs will be staged in Australia, Egypt, Belgium, Bulgaria, Brazil, France, Germany, Switzerland, Greece, Britain, United States, Japan, India, Spain, Italy, Canada, China, Cyprus, Mexico, South Africa, South Korea, Netherlands, Ukraine, Russia, Sweden, Turkey and Finland.
The flame returns to Greece on July 9 for a final homecoming tour before entering the Olympic stadium to light the cauldron on Aug. 13.
Athens in Last Push to Sell Remaining Tickets
With only 73 days to go before the Athens Olympics, organizers began yesterday the final push to sell the remaining two-thirds of their tickets.
After two rounds of ticket sales that ended in April, organizers have so far sold about 1.8 million tickets out of a total of 5.3 million for the Aug. 13-29 Games.
But because the most expensive tickets were the ones to go first, organizers have already collected 75 percent of their projected total 183 million euros ($224 million) revenues, and they are confident remaining tickets will get snapped up.
“We have revenues higher than any other previous Games,” Games Executive Director Marton Simitsek told reporters.
Among the most popular events for the Games were several track and field competitions featuring Greek athletes, the basketball semifinals, sailing events and the track cycling competition.
Baseball, little known in Greece, was one of the less popular events with only about 19 percent of all its tickets sold. Soccer and beach volleyball tickets are expected to sell better after their upcoming draws for the Olympic tournament.
“The aim is to get 183 million euros with sales of about 68 percent,” Games Marketing head George Bolos said. “Sydney sold 2.5 million tickets in the last three months.”
