1996 Summer Olympics torch relay

Host city	Atlanta, United States
Countries visited	Greece, United States of America
Distance	26,875 kilometers (16,699 mi)
Torch bearers	12,467
Start date	April 27, 1996
End date	July 19, 1996
Torch designer	Peter Mastrogiannis, Malcolm Grear Designers

The 1996 Summer Olympics torch relay was run from April 27, 1996, until July 19, 1996, prior to the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta. The route covered 26,875 kilometers (16,699 mi) across the United States and featured a wide variety in the methods of transport used, including bicycles, boats, and trains. The National Pony Express Association participated in the journey, with riders carrying the torch for over 56 continuous hours. The torch was taken on board a replica of a 19th-century packet boat and pulled for 3.2 kilometers (2.0 mi) along the Erie Canal by mule. The torch was also carried into space for the first time, with astronauts taking an unlit torch with them aboard Space Shuttle Columbia as part of STS-78. The relay involved over 12,000 torchbearers, including Muhammad Ali, who was chosen to ignite the Olympic cauldron.

Organization

Planning for the torch relay began in 1993. From the beginning of the planning process, the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games (ACOG) worked closely with the Hellenic Olympic Committee (HOC) to organize the handover of the Olympic flame from Greece to the United States. The last such event in the United States, the 1984 Summer Olympics torch relay, had been the subject of intense controversy: Greek organizers opposed the decision to allow anyone who gave money to the relay's charitable sponsors to carry the torch, and had threatened not to light the flame at Olympia. Additionally, Athens had narrowly lost to Atlanta in its bid for the 1996 Olympics, which many Greek officials believed to rightfully belong to them because it marked the 100th anniversary of the first modern Olympics in Athens. Atlanta organizers sought to repair the damage that these two incidents had done to Greek–American relations by ensuring that the HOC was always included in their plans. As a result of these discussions, ACOG agreed to "refrain from selling the honor of carrying the Olympic flame, to control and minimize commercialization of the flame or relay imagery, to prohibit any sponsor identification from appearing on the torch of torchbearer uniform, and to protect and acknowledge only one Olympic flame."

Within those constraints, the relay still relied substantially on corporate sponsorship. Most of these sponsorships were value-in-kind, with sponsors providing free products and services to the relay organizers rather than paying money to ACOG. The Coca-Cola Company was the presenting sponsor of the relay, and was the only company permitted to create relay-related merchandise and advertising. Coca-Cola was also responsible for selecting 2,500 of the torchbearers. The company gave nomination forms away as part of a promotional deal with 12-packs of their cans, with the entries largely being selected at random. Revenue from the drinks sold from the travelling party were donated to charity.

Transportation services, both for the flame itself and for relay organizers making preparations along the route, were provided by Delta Air Lines, Union Pacific Railroad, and BMW, with Texaco providing fuel for the motor vehicles used in the relay. Communications and technology services were provided by BellSouth, Motorola, and IBM. The torchbearer uniforms were designed and manufactured by the Sara Lee Corporation, which then owned the Hanes and Champion clothing brands. Holiday Inn provided accommodations and meeting spaces for organizers along the route.

In planning the flame's route across the United States, organizers drew on the successful experience of the 1984 relay as well as the 1992 relay in Spain, which had used a wider variety of means of transportation in addition to runners on foot. Combining elements of these two past events would allow for a "celebration of Americana" that would visit significantly more towns and famous locations than the 1984 relay, done solely by runners, in almost exactly the same span of time. For the first time, logistics and planning for the relay was handled by Além International Management, which has been responsible for almost all Olympic torch relays since 1996 and has followed the same model each time. A preliminary route had been decided by early 1994, and organizer Rennie Truitt was tasked with driving its entire length that summer to choose specific roads and landmarks that would be visited.

The route of the torch relay was announced on July 23, 1995, in a televised special on NBC hosted by Bob Costas and ACOG president Billy Payne. It was the longest Olympic torch relay route that had been staged up to that time, covering a distance of 15,000 miles (24,000 km), visiting 42 of the 50 states, and lasting for 84 days. The length was chosen so that the Olympic flame would burn in the United States for a total of 100 days from its arrival in Los Angeles to its extinguishing at the closing ceremonies, representing the Centennial Olympics. The flame was to be carried by 10,000 torchbearers. 5,500 of these torchbearers were chosen by local affiliates of the United Way of America, with another 2,500 chosen through a sweepstakes held by Coca-Cola, and the remaining 2,000 selected by the U.S. Olympic Committee and ACOG.

Torch

Top section of a torch showing the logo of the 1996 Games

The torch was designed by Greek-American Peter Mastrogiannis of Malcolm Grear Designers. The Georgia Institute of Technology College of Engineering and Atlanta Gas Light turned the design into a reality. It featured 22 aluminum "reeds", representing the number of times that the Games had been held. A gold-plated band towards the base of the torch features the names of all 20 host cities up to and including Atlanta, while the logo is etched into another band near the top. The handle, made of Georgia hardwood collected by the Georgia Forestry Commission and manufactured by Hillerich & Bradsby, maker of Louisville Slugger bats, is found near the center of the 76 centimeters (30 in) torch. In total it weighed 1,600 grams (56 oz). Torchbearers were allowed to purchase for $275 the torch that they had carried.

During the initial leg of the torch relay in Greece, hasty modifications were made to the design of the torch. It was found that the reeds could melt while the flame was lit, requiring engineers to design a screen which could protect the reeds from the flame without affecting the performance of the torch. The propane used to fuel the torch was replaced with propylene so that it would burn brighter, requiring the thousands of torches already made to be disassembled in order to replace the fuel inside.

Relay

Greece

In keeping with tradition, the flame was lit at the Temple of Hera in the Greek city of Olympia on March 30, 1996. First Lady Hillary Clinton headed the American delegation at the lighting ceremony. Greek long jumper Kostas Koukodimos was the first torchbearer. Over 800 people carried the torch a distance of 2,141 kilometers (1,330 mi) across Greece, the most extensive in the history of the Games, to mark the 100th anniversary of the 1896 Olympics in Athens. The Greek leg of the relay culminated on April 6, when the torch arrived at Panathenaic Stadium in Athens. The flame was carried through Athens by representatives of every country which had hosted an Olympic Games in the past century.

Date	Locations	Map	Inset map
March 30	Olympia, Pyrgos, Kalamata	Olympia Vergina Naousa Pella Thessaloniki Athens	Olympia Pyrgos Kalamata Taygetus Sparta Tegea Tripoli Nafplio Argos Corinth Patras Missolonghi Navpaktos   Galaxidi Itea Amfissa Delphi Parnassus Thebes Marathon Athens
March 31	Kalamata, Taygetus, Sparta, Tegea
April 1	Tegea, Tripoli, Nafplio, Argos, Corinth
April 2	Corinth, Patras
April 3	Patras, Missolonghi, Navpaktos, Galaxidi, Itea, Amfissa, Delphi
April 4	Delphi, Parnassus, Thebes, Vergina
April 5	Vergina, Naousa, Pella, Thessaloniki
April 6	Thessaloniki, Marathon, Athens (Panathenaic Stadium)

United States

The Centennial Spirit, Delta Air Lines' specially painted McDonnell Douglas MD-11 that was used to transport the flame from Athens to Los Angeles.

Rafer Johnson, pictured as a flagbearer at the 1960 Summer Olympics, was the first torchbearer.

A runner carrying the torch near Tampa, Florida

Muhammad Ali, the surprise final torchbearer, pictured in 2004

After burning in Athens for three weeks, HOC president Antonios Tzikas formally handed the flame to ACOG president Billy Payne on April 26. A lantern containing the flame was loaded onto The Centennial Spirit, a specially painted Delta Air Lines McDonnell Douglas MD-11, at Athens' Ellinikon International Airport early on the morning of April 27. The flight from Athens to Los Angeles International Airport lasted 14 hours, departing Athens at 4 a.m. local time and arriving in Los Angeles by 9 a.m. local time.

From the airport, the flame was carried in a helicopter to Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, site of the 1984 Olympic opening and closing ceremonies, for a nationally-televised ceremony to mark the beginning of the relay. ACOG attempted to arrange for the nude statues in front of the Coliseum to be covered during the event, but the statues ultimately remained uncovered. Billy Payne lit the first torch from the lantern before passing it to Rafer Johnson, who had lit the cauldron in 1984, to run the first leg. Johnson passed the flame to Gina Hemphill Tillman, granddaughter of Jesse Owens, who had been the first torchbearer on the 1984 relay. Tillman passed it on to swimmer Janet Evans.

Leaving the Coliseum, the torch was carried through Los Angeles to Santa Monica Pier, then along the Pacific coast. At one point in Los Angeles, the torch was carried by Robert Zemeckis. The first day of the relay continued until 4:59 a.m., when the run stopped for an hour in Huntington Beach before continuing on its way to San Diego. Notable torchbearers in San Diego County included Wheel of Fortune hosts Pat Sajak and Vanna White in Oceanside and 1936 Olympic athlete Kenny Griffin in Carlsbad.

After roughly following the Mexican border to Yuma, Arizona, the torch made its first rail journey to Phoenix. Security was high, as an act of sabotage along the same tracks six months earlier had caused the deadly 1995 Palo Verde derailment. In Kingman, Arizona, the route briefly followed the famous Route 66, before exiting the state at the Hoover Dam. It was carried across the rim of the dam by Martha Watson. That morning, to mark the torch's passage, the world's largest U.S. flag was unfurled for the first time across the dam's wall, but it had to be taken down due to high winds before the torch arrived.

The relay proceeded into Las Vegas, Nevada, where it was announced that the casinos would briefly dim their lights to create a more dramatic entrance for the torch, but did not ultimately do so. From Las Vegas, the flame was again loaded onto a special Union Pacific train which brought it across California, with occasional stops to run through larger cities, until it reached San Jose. The torch was carried on a cable car in San Francisco and was run across the Golden Gate Bridge before dawn the next morning. After running to Sacramento, the torch made another rail journey to Eugene, Oregon. The route continued northward, on foot and by bicycle, through Portland and as far north as Seattle, Washington, where the torch crossed Puget Sound on the Seattle–Bremerton ferry, the only ferry ride along the cross-country route. Cyclist Harley Sheffield dropped and broke the torch while riding with it across the Tacoma Narrows Bridge, an incident which received so much publicity that Sheffield was featured as a guest on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.

From Seattle, the flame traveled to the southeast by train. ACOG president Billy Payne joined the railway journey in Yakima, Washington. The torch then passed through Idaho on its way to Salt Lake City, Utah, which was awarded the 2002 Winter Olympics shortly before the route was announced. Bart Conner and Nadia Comăneci, Olympic gymnasts who had recently married, carried the torch in Salt Lake City. After crossing Wyoming, the relay visited Denver, Colorado and Colorado Springs, home of the United States Olympic Committee headquarters and the U.S. Olympic Training Center.

At Julesburg, the torch was picked up by riders of the National Pony Express Association, who carried it (along with a bag of commemorative letters addressed to patients at a children's hospital) on horseback to St. Joseph, Missouri. Like the original Pony Express, the riders traveled non-stop for 58 hours straight, from 9 p.m. on May 13 to 7 a.m. on May 16. While relay organizers had chosen this particular segment of the historic Pony Express route because it mostly ran alongside modern roads which could accommodate the caravan of support vehicles, road conditions forced them to separate from the torch-bearing riders for some stretches. At Rock Creek Station near Endicott, a horse was spooked and threw its rider, causing another torch to be broken.

The torch traveled southward from St. Joseph into Kansas City, Missouri, then across Kansas and Oklahoma. The relay route, as initially announced, included a stop in Yale, Oklahoma, which organizers described as the "birthplace" of Jim Thorpe. Thorpe was actually born in Pottawatomie County, Oklahoma, near the town of Prague, and about 50 miles away from Yale, where Thorpe lived briefly as an adult. Residents of Prague protested the decision and asked for the torch to be rerouted to their town. The relay organizers resisted these requests at first, saying that the route had already been carefully planned and could not be significantly altered, but ultimately agreed to visit both Yale and Prague.

In Oklahoma City, the torch was carried by first responders to the Oklahoma City bombing a year earlier. Between Waco and Bryan, Texas, it was flown on a 1943 Stearman biplane.

In Houston, the route met the Gulf Coast and continued eastward. A 310,000 US gallons (1,200,000 L; 260,000 imp gal) gasoline spillage in Gramercy, Louisiana, forced the relay to skip the town and take an unexpected 15-mile (24 km) detour along Interstate 10. The torch rode on the historic St. Charles Streetcar in New Orleans. Sister Helen Prejean ran with the torch in New Orleans.

From New Orleans, the torch was transported mostly by rail through Mississippi and Arkansas, passing through Memphis and roughly following the Mississippi River northward. Starting from the Gateway Arch in St. Louis, the torch was intended to board the American Queen, the recently-built river steamboat which was the largest of its kind in history, to be transported up the Mississippi to Hannibal, Missouri, best known as the boyhood home of Mark Twain. However, due to flooding on the river that prevented the American Queen from reaching St. Louis for the journey, an alternative route had to be devised that would still allow the torch and hundreds of honored guests to spend a day on the river. As a result, after reaching St. Louis, the torch was driven on a bus back down to Paducah, Kentucky, then rode on the American Queen from Paducah to Cairo, Illinois, before being bussed again to Hannibal.

Former U.S. president Jimmy Carter was originally slated to carry the torch in his hometown of Plains, Georgia on July 12, a controversial inclusion given that Carter had led the 1980 Summer Olympics boycott against the Soviet Union while he was president. However, Carter later canceled his participation, choosing to accept an award from Lions Clubs International in Montreal that day instead.

Opening ceremony

The end of the relay took place on July 19, 1996, at the opening ceremony in Atlanta. Four-time gold medal-winning discus thrower Al Oerter carried the torch to the stadium, passing it to Evander Holyfield. Holyfield was then joined by Voula Patoulidou and the pair passed the flame to American swimmer Janet Evans, the penultimate torchbearer, who carried it around a lap of the track and up a long ramp leading towards the northern end of the stadium.

The identity of the final torchbearer had been kept secret and was only revealed when Muhammad Ali appeared at the top of the ramp. Ali, who had won gold at the 1960 Games in Rome and later developed Parkinson's disease, lit a mechanical torch which then travelled along a wire, lighting the cauldron at the top of a 116-foot (35 m) tower. His appearance has been referred to as being one of the most inspiring, poignant, and emotional moments in Olympic history.

Route in the United States

In the table below, only those locations where the torch was carried on foot, or otherwise stopped for a celebration, are listed. All locations are confirmed by the relay's official website as archived in December 1996, unless otherwise specified.

Date	Locations	Map
April 27	California: Los Angeles (Memorial Coliseum, Koreatown, Chinatown, Elysian Park), Burbank, Los Angeles (Hollywood, Mann's Chinese Theatre), West Hollywood, Beverly Hills, Los Angeles (UCLA), Santa Monica (Santa Monica Pier), Venice, Manhattan Beach, Hermosa Beach, Redondo Beach, Torrance, Wilmington, Long Beach, Seal Beach, Sunset Beach, Huntington Beach	Los Angeles San Diego
April 28	California: Huntington Beach, Newport Beach, Laguna Beach, Dana Point, San Clemente, Camp Pendleton, Oceanside, Carlsbad, Encinitas, Solana Beach, Del Mar, San Diego (Torrey Pines, La Jolla, Pacific Beach, Belmont Park, Mission Hills), Chula Vista (United States Olympic Training Center)
April 29	California: Chula Vista (rowed across Lower Otay Reservoir), Arizona: Yuma	Yuma Phoenix
April 30	Arizona: Yuma, travel by train through Avondale to Phoenix (Union Station, Arizona State Capitol, Patriots Square Park), Peoria, Sun City, El Mirage, Surprise, Wickenburg,
May 1	Arizona: Kingman, Hoover Dam Nevada: Hoover Dam, Boulder City, Henderson, Las Vegas (Fremont Street), overnight travel by train to Barstow, California	Las Vegas
May 2	California: traveling by train, with stops in Barstow, Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, Salinas, San Jose	San Luis Obispo San Jose San Francisco Sacramento
May 3	California: San Jose, Santa Clara, Sunnyvale, Mountain View, Atherton, Redwood City, San Carlos, Belmont, San Mateo, Foster City, Burlingame, Millbrae, San Bruno, South San Francisco, Colma, Daly City, San Francisco (Kezar Stadium, Haight-Ashbury, The Castro, Mission Dolores Park, rode on a cable car, Lombard Street, Justin Herman Plaza)
May 4	California: San Francisco (Fisherman's Wharf, San Francisco, Fort Mason, Palace of Fine Arts, Fort Point, Golden Gate Bridge), Sausalito, Mill Valley, Larkspur, San Rafael, Napa, Winters, Davis, Sacramento (California State Capitol), traveling by train with stops in Marysville, Yuba City, Chico, Redding, on its way to Klamath Falls, Oregon
May 5	Oregon: Klamath Falls, traveling by train through Springfield to Eugene (University of Oregon), Corvallis,	Eugene Salem Portland
May 6	Oregon: Portland, Columbia City Washington: Longview, Castle Rock, Chehalis, Centralia, Tenino, Olympia (Washington State Capitol)	Olympia Seattle
May 7	Washington: Olympia, Lacey, Tacoma, Bremerton, ferry across Puget Sound
May 8	Washington: Renton, Enumclaw, Buckley, Eatonville, Morton, Yakima, traveling by train with stops in Kennewick and Pendleton, Oregon, continuing overnight into Idaho
May 9	Idaho: traveling by train, with stops in Boise (Idaho State Capitol), Mountain Home, and Pocatello (Idaho State University) Utah: traveling by train to Ogden	Boise Pocatello
May 10	Utah: Ogden, South Ogden, Uintah, East Layton, Fruit Heights, Farmington, Centerville, Bountiful, North Salt Lake, Salt Lake City (University of Utah, This Is the Place Monument), Sugar House, Sandy, Midvale, Murray, South Salt Lake, Salt Lake City (Utah State Capitol)	Salt Lake City
May 11	Utah: Salt Lake City (Emigration Canyon), Henefer, Echo Wyoming: traveling by train, with stops in Evanston, Green River, Rawlins, Laramie, and Cheyenne (Wyoming State Capitol)	Cheyenne
May 12	Wyoming: traveling by train out of Cheyenne Colorado: traveling by train, stopping in Greeley and Denver (Colorado State Capitol, City Park), then cycling to Colorado Springs (Garden of the Gods, U.S. Olympic Training Center/U.S. Olympic Committee headquarters)	Denver Colorado Springs
May 13	Colorado: Colorado Springs, Limon, Brush, Sterling, Julesburg, carried on horseback by National Pony Express Association riders into Nebraska overnight
May 14	Nebraska: traveling on horseback 24 hours per day, with stops in North Platte and Kearney	Kearney
May 15	Nebraska and Kansas: traveling on horseback 24 hours per day, with celebrations in Marysville and Seneca
May 16	Kansas: traveling on horseback into Missouri, with a celebration in Horton Missouri: St. Joseph (Pony Express ride ends at Patee House), Kansas City (Liberty Memorial, Union Station, Kemper Arena) Kansas: Kansas City, Fairway, Mission, Lawrence (University of Kansas), Topeka (Kansas State Capitol)	St. Joseph Kansas City Topeka Wichita
May 17	Kansas: Topeka, Eskridge, Emporia, Newton, Wichita (canoed down the Arkansas River to The Keeper of the Plains statue)
May 18	Kansas: Wichita, Arkansas City Oklahoma: Ponca City, Pawnee, Yale, Stillwater (Oklahoma State University), Prague, Garden Grove, Stillwater	Oklahoma City
May 19	Oklahoma: Stillwater (National Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum), Guthrie (Old State Capitol), Edmond, Oklahoma City (National Cowboy Hall of Fame and Western Heritage Center, National Softball Hall of Fame and Museum, Oklahoma State Capitol, Santa Fe Depot), traveling by train with stops in Norman and Fort Worth, Texas
May 20	Texas: Fort Worth (Stockyards), Arlington, Grand Prairie, Dallas (Dealey Plaza, City Hall, Union Station), De Soto, Hillsboro, Waco	Dallas Fort Worth
May 21	Texas: Waco (Baylor University), flown by airplane to Bryan, College Station (Texas A&M University), Navasota, Jersey Village, Houston
May 22	Texas: Houston (Sam Houston Coliseum), Dayton, Liberty, Beaumont, Pinehurst, Orange Louisiana: Lake Charles
May 23	Louisiana: Lake Charles, Jennings, Crowley, Lafayette (Cajundome, University of Southwestern Louisiana), Opelousas, Port Allen, Baton Rouge (Riverside Centroplex)	Baton Rouge New Orleans
May 24	Louisiana: Baton Rouge (Southern University, Louisiana State Capitol, Louisiana State University), Gonzales, Sorrento, LaPlace, Norco, Destrahan, Luling, Boutte, New Orleans (ride on St. Charles Streetcar, Lee Circle, Louisiana Superdome, Jackson Square)
May 25	Louisiana: New Orleans, Slidell, Bogalusa Mississippi: Columbia, Prentiss, Brandon, Pearl, Flowood, Jackson, overnight travel by train, stopping in Vicksburg	Jackson
May 26	Arkansas: traveling by train, stopping in Pine Bluff and Little Rock (Arkansas State Capitol, MacArthur Park) Tennessee: Memphis (Beale Street, Riverfront Park)	Little Rock Memphis
May 27	Tennessee: Memphis (Graceland, Lorraine Motel/National Civil Rights Museum) Arkansas: traveling by train, with stops in Osceola and Blytheville Missouri: traveling by train to Cape Girardeau, then running to Jackson, Perryville, Ste. Genevieve, Crystal City, Festus	St. Louis
May 28	Missouri: Festus, Crystal City, Herculaneum, Pevely, Barnhart, Arnold, St. Louis (Forest Park, Washington University, Francis Field, Gateway Arch), boarded American Queen steamboat for overnight travel up Mississippi River
May 29	Missouri: traveling by steamboat up Mississippi River to Hannibal
May 30	Missouri: Hannibal, Palmyra, Canton Iowa: Keokuk, Mount Pleasant, Iowa City (University of Iowa), Coralville, Cedar Rapids	Iowa City Cedar Rapids
May 31	Iowa: Cedar Rapids (Coe College), Vinton, La Porte City, Waterloo, Cedar Falls, Charles City, St. Ansgar Minnesota: Lyle, Austin
June 1
June 2	Minneapolis	Minneapolis Saint Paul
June 3	Saint Paul
June 4	Milwaukee	Milwaukee
June 5	Chicago	Chicago
June 6	Indianapolis	Indianapolis
June 7	Louisville	Louisville
June 8	Cincinnati	Cincinnati Columbus
June 9	Columbus
June 10	Detroit	Detroit
June 11	Cleveland	Cleveland
June 12	Erie	Erie
June 13	Buffalo	Buffalo Niagara Falls Rochester Albany
June 14	Niagara Falls
June 15	Rochester
June 16	Albany
June 17	Bennington	Bennington
June 18	Nashua	Nashua
June 19	Boston	Boston
June 20	Providence	Providence
June 21	New Haven	New Haven
June 22	New York City	New York City
June 23	Trenton	Trenton
June 24	Philadelphia	Philadelphia
June 25	Baltimore	Baltimore Washington, D.C.
June 26	Washington, D.C.
June 27	Richmond	Richmond
June 28	Raleigh	Raleigh Winston-Salem Charlotte
June 29	Winston-Salem
June 30	Charlotte
July 1	Greenville	Greenville
July 2	Knoxville	Knoxville Nashville
July 3	Nashville
July 4	Birmingham	Birmingham Montgomery
July 5	Montgomery
July 6	Tallahassee	Tallahassee Gainesville Tampa Sarasota Jacksonville Miami Fort Lauderdale West Palm Beach Orlando Daytona Beach
July 7	Gainesville
July 8	Tampa
July 9	Sarasota
July 9	Jacksonville
July 10	Miami
July 11	Fort Lauderdale
July 12	West Palm Beach
July 13	Orlando
July 14	Daytona Beach
July 14	Augusta	Augusta Savannah Macon Athens Rome Atlanta
July 15	Savannah
July 16	Macon
July 17	Athens
July 18	Rome
July 19	Atlanta (Centennial Olympic Stadium)

External links

• 1996 Olympic Torch Relay official website, archived at the WayBack Machine on December 19, 1996. Contains detailed maps and information about each day of the relay.