2008 Summer Olympics torch relay 2008 Summer Olympics torch relay The 2008 Summer Olympics torch relay was run from March 24 until August 8, 2008, prior to the 2008 Summer Olympics, with the theme of "one world, one dream". Plans for the relay were announced on April 26, 2007, in Beijing, China. The relay, also called by the organizers as the "Journey of Harmony", lasted 129 days and carried the torch – the longest distance of any Olympic torch relay since the tradition was started ahead of the 1936 Summer Olympics. After being lit at the birthplace of the Olympic Games in Olympia, Greece on
1936 Summer Olympics torch relay flame was lit on site at the stadium. Carl Diem devised the idea of the torch relay for the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin that was organized by the Nazi Party under the guidance of Joseph Goebbels. The process was ratified by the International Olympic Committee and has been repeated at all the Games that have followed. Diem and the organizing team realized that there would need to be very detailed plans in order to successfully complete the relay to a standard that would satisfy both themselves and the ruling Third Reich. At the time they were unsure about exactly