2004 Summer Olympics torch relay
The 2004 Olympic Torch Relay took the Olympic flame across every habitable continent, returning to Athens, Greece for the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad. Every city which had hosted the Summer Olympics was revisited by the torch, as well as several other cities chosen for their international importance.
The relay was the first time the Olympic flame had travelled to Africa, India and South America. It was also the first time the flame had circumnavigated the globe. The flame was transported from country to country aboard a specially-equipped Boeing 747 leased from Atlanta Icelandic (Registration TF-ARO). called Zeus.
International Leg of the 2004 Olympic Torch Relay
On March 25, 2004, the Olympic Flame was ignited at Olympia, Greece, site of the Ancient Olympics.
The International Leg of the 2004 Olympic Torch Relay officially began on June 4, 2004, when the flame touched down in Sydney, Australia, host city of the 2000 Summer Olympics.
- Sydney, Australia (2000)
- Melbourne, Australia (1956)
- Tokyo, Japan (1964)
- Seoul, South Korea (1988)
- Beijing, China (2008)
- Delhi, India
- Cairo, Egypt (North Africa / Middle East)
- Cape Town, South Africa (Southern Africa)
- Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (South America)
- Mexico City, Mexico (1968)
- Los Angeles, USA (1932/1984)
- Saint Louis, USA (1904)
- Atlanta, USA (1996)
- New York City, USA (Headquarters of the United Nations)
- Montreal, Canada (1976)
- Antwerp, Belgium (1920)
- Brussels, Belgium (Headquarters of the European Union)
- Amsterdam, The Netherlands (1928)
- Geneva, Switzerland
- Lausanne, Switzerland (Headquarters of the International Olympic Committee)
- Paris, France (1900/1924)
- London, United Kingdom (1908/1948/2012)
- Madrid, Spain
- Barcelona, Spain (1992)
- Rome, Italy (1960)
- Munich, Germany (1972)
- Berlin, Germany (1936)
- Stockholm, Sweden (1912)
- Helsinki, Finland (1952)
- Moscow, Russia (1980)
- Kiev, Ukraine
- Istanbul, Turkey
- Sofia, Bulgaria
- Nicosia, Cyprus
The International Leg of the 2004 Olympic Torch Relay officially 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 August 13, 2004.
After visiting Cyprus, the Greek Leg of the Torch Relay resumed on July 9, 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.
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.