The sacred flame of the Olympic Games will travel far wider than ever before next year, following a route through 27 countries and 34 cities before it lights the cauldron at the official opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in Athens on August 13.

Travelling at an average rate of 48km per day, the flame will be carried by over 3,600 torchbearers, while planes, ships, cars, bicycles and even wheelchairs will be enlisted in a journey passing, for the first time, through all former Summer Olympic host cities and all land mass represented by the rings of the Olympic Games logo - The Americas, Europe, Africa, Asia and Oceania.

The torch relay was originally introduced before the Berlin Olympics in 1936 under the direction of Nazi-sponsored Olympic official Carl Diem. Next year's torch relay will cover a distance of more than 77,000 km crossing through 37 time zones, including Istanbul and Cape Town. It is expected to be watched by 260 million people as it promotes the message of "the flame that unites the world."

"The ancient and modern symbolisms of the flame - the values of peace, truce, security, brotherhood, cooperation - are more relevant today than ever," Gianna Angelopoulos-Daskalaki, head of the Athens Organizing Committee , said during the torch relay route announcement ceremony on November 26.

Ancient setting, double meaning
Lovers of antiquity couldn’t ask for a more ideal setting for the torch lighting ceremony scheduled on March 25: at the original site of the games in ancient Olympia , southwestern Greece, and according to the modern-day ritual, young women clad as Zeus priestesses will summon the divine light of Apollo while the torch is lit from reflected rays of sunlight in a concave mirror.

Carrying a double meaning for Greeks, the date of the torch lighting ceremony marks the start of the first modern Olympics in 1896 in Athens as well as the outbreak of the Greek Independence War in 1821 which led to the birth of the modern Greek state six years later. Indeed, authorities are considering a proposal to push the annual celebrations – school and military parades – marking the revolution, to March 26.

As to the Olympic flame, it will burn outside the all-marble Athens Kallimarmaron stadium , the site of first modern Olympics, on March 31 after first having travelled to the ancient Greek temple of Aphaia on the island of Aegina off the coast of Attica. It will remain there until it begins its journey to the farthest reaches of the globe on June 4.

Australian Olympic Gold medallist Kathy Freeman will be the first non-Greek to carry the torch when it arrives at its first port of call in Sydney on June 4. The 400-metre gold medallist lit the cauldron at the Sydney opening ceremony in 2000.

Stressing the relay’s global significance, Angelopoulos said it belongs to all cultures. “This torch relay is the torch relay of all cultures,” she said on November 26.

Each torchbearer will run 400 metres as the relay will move at a pace of 60km per day over a five-month period. 2,500km of the journey will be made on foot. International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Jacques Rogge is scheduled to also carry the flame on the leg past the IOC building in Lausanne, Switzerland. “I hope at my age I will be able to run 400 metres. It will be a great achievement,” Rogge said.

Give peace a chance
Greek Foreign Minister George Papandreou , a fervent international campaigner for world peace during the Games said the relay is a chance to spread the message of peace across the world through the Olympic Truce . “In our times, sports cannot impose peace. But it can inspire it,” Papandreou said.

“If we can achieve peace for 16 days, perhaps one day we can achieve it forever,” he added. “We ask from everyone to become ambassadors of the Olympic truce.” It is reminded that the Ancient Greek tradition stipulated a cessation of war during the Games.

Back to the torch, the flame will round off its trip in Nicosia, Cyprus on July 9, before returning to Greece, where it will travel to 174 cities and villages. Its itinerary will also include 24 monuments of historical importance and as many islands as possible. Daskalaki said destinations on the Greek leg of the trip were chosen on the basis of their historical and cultural identity, geographic location, hotel infrastructure and the interest they hold as tourist attractions. “Through the relay we can all become the torchbearers of the Olympic truce,” Papandreou underlined.