London 2012: Olympic torch route finalised

The London 2012 Olympic torch will pass through 1,018 places throughout Great Britain during its 70-day relay, the London Organisation Committee of the Olympic Games (LOCOG) have confirmed.

The torch’s tour will run between May 19 and July 27 and will cover around 8,000 miles. A total of 8,000 lucky torchbearers will be involved in the relay, which will stretch the length and breadth of the UK from the Shetland Islands to the Channel Islands, and from the Suffolk coast to Enniskillen, Northern Island.

Highlights of the torch’s journey include: taking an inflatable boat across Loch Ness, Paralympic cycling at Brand’s Hatch, a trip on the Flying Scotsman, trips to the summit of Mount Snowden and to Stonehenge and flying down from the Tyne Bridge on a zip wire.

The flame will be lit in Olympia, Greece, in May and will then be flown to the UK on May 18. Its odyssey begins at Land’s End the following day and finishes with a trip from Hampton Court in London to Olympic Park on July 27 for the opening ceremony.

“Now everyone is invited to plan their welcome and find out where they can go to be part of this historic occasion,” said LOCOG chairman Lord Coe.

“We originally started out by saying that 95 percent of the population would be within an hour’s journey of the route – we now have that within 10 miles. We’ve got to get the torch into as many communities as possible. 50 percent of the torchbearers will be aged between 12 and 24. We’re going to focus on young people – it’s a young people’s torch,” he told the BBC.

For more information about the London 2012 Olympic Torch Relay, click here.