19 May 2011

Route for London Olympic torch relay unveiled

4:06 pm on 19 May 2011

The torch relay before the 2012 London Olympics will start in Land's End and travel as far as the outer reaches of Scotland on a 12,875-kilometre journey.

The Olympic flame will arrive from Greece in one year from Thursday, and the relay will get underway on the westerly tip of mainland Britain and continue for 70 days until the opening ceremony of the Games on July 27th.

There will be no international relay after the chaos caused by human rights protesters demonstrating against China's hosting of the 2008 Games, although the relay may incorporate a stop in Dublin.

The first 74 locations have been confirmed by organisers and will take in famous sports venues, historic sites and places of outstanding natural beauty.

The first torch relay was introduced at the modern Olympics ahead of the infamous 1936 Berlin Games where, after being lit in Greece, the flame was carried by 3,331 runners over 12 days to the German capital.

The first global torch relay was held in 2004 ahead of the Athens Games, where the flame was carried around the world before eventually arriving back in the Greek capital.