Thousands given chance to run in Olympic torch relay

Leg work: Dame Kelly Holmes in London with the Olympic torch before the Beijing Games
13 April 2012

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Thousands of people are being given the chance to play a historic role in London 2012 as nominations for the Olympic torch relay open today.

Young people and community heroes will stand the greatest chance of being selected to be among the 8,000 torchbearers in the nationwide tour which is the traditional curtain-raiser to the Games.

Games chiefs outlined the relay route today exactly a year before the torch arrives at Land's End from its base in Olympia, Greece. It will take an 8,000-mile, 70-day tour of the UK, including visits to all the regions and every London borough - as well as the Irish Republic subject to a security review.

It will be carried for 12 hours a day, coming to a halt at about 6.30pm and reaching Tower Hamlets on Friday 20 July, a week before the opening ceremony.

The route will be based around 74 evening sites - including Waltham Forest, Bexley, Wandsworth, Ealing, Haringey and Westminster - where "mini-Glastonbury festivals" will be staged to celebrate the torch's arrival.

Of the 8,000 torchbearers, 2,000 will be chosen by Locog and much of the remainder will come from separate nomination processes run by torch sponsors Coca Cola, Lloyds TSB and Samsung.

London Mayor Boris Johnson said: "This is not confined to elite athletes. If you love London and want a piece of the Games this is a chance for you."

Nominators will have to state the case for a torchbearer aged 12 and above in a testimonial of no more than 150 words. Regional panels of judges will allocate places by January next year.

City Hall has been working on plans to take the flame on a "floating stage" on the river to the Olympic stadium.

Much of the cost of the relay will be shared by sponsors and local boroughs while the cost of a permanent police entourage will be met by the Olympic budget. Bearers will have the opportunity to buy their torch as a memento.

Locog chairman Sebastian Coe said: "The Olympic Flame will shine a light right across every nation and region of the UK and showcase the very best of who we are and where we live."

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