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
1968 Summer Olympics torch relay arrived just outside San Salvador at the original landing site of Columbus's first voyage. A celebration organised in conjunction with the Bahamas Olympic Association marked the first time that the Flame had been to the New World. At the end of the festivities the Flame was taken aboard the Mexican destroyer ARM "Durango". The ship arrived in Veracruz on 6 October with the torch being swam ashore by a relay of seventeen swimmers. From there the Mexican runners started their journey, and the Flame arrived at the Olympic Stadium Estadio Olímpico Universitario on 12 October. In total the relay spanned