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
London 2012 Olympic Torch gripped, as does its textured surface, which is perforated with 8,000 holes. The holes represent the 8,000 runners in the London 2012 Torch Relay and the relay distance. Functionally, they reduce the torch's overall weight and ensure that heat from its flame is dissipated without conducting down the handle. They create a level of transparency in the torch, where one can see through to the flame and burner mechanism, and they also allow a 'fuller' flame that escapes from all sides of the Torch, rather than solely from the top, where the flame can tend to be flattened when a