List of Olympic torch relays
The Olympic torch relay is the ceremonial relaying of the Olympic flame from Olympia, Greece, to the site of an Olympic Games. It was first performed at the 1936 Berlin Games, and has taken place prior to every Games since.
Although in the past some Olympic organizing committees organized torch relays which encompassed multiple countries, the International Olympic Committee now restricts international relays due to the protests during the 2008 Summer Olympics torch relay, in which the relay was met with protests at several international sites on its way to Beijing, China.
Summer Olympic Games
Site of the Olympic Games | Days | Total length | Total number of torchbearers | Route |
![]() | 8 | 3,422 | 3,422 | Olympia – Athens – Thessaloniki – Sofia – Belgrade – Budapest – Vienna – Prague – Dresden – Berlin Two secondary relays carried the flame from Olympic Stadium in Berlin to the off-site aquatic venues: Grunau, and Kiel. The cauldron in Kiel sat in an old Hanseatic galley in the bay. Kiel would also be the yachting site of the 1972 Munich Olympics. |
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![]() | 13 | 7,870 | 3,372 | Olympia – Corfu Bari – Milan – Lausanne – Geneva – Besançon – Metz – Luxembourg – Brussels – Lille – Calais – Dover – London A second relay carried the flame from Wembley, where the Games were based, to the sailing centre at Torbay, via Slough, Basingstoke, Salisbury, and Exeter. |
![]() | 5 | 3,365 | 1,416 | Olympia - Athens Aalborg - Odense - Copenhagen Malmö - Gothenburg - Stockholm - Tornio - Oulu - Helsinki. A second flame was lit in Pallastunturi and joined the main one in Tornio |
![]() | 21 | 20,470 | 3,118 | Olympia - Athens Darwin - Brisbane - Sydney - Canberra - Melbourne |
![]() | 9 | 1,000 | 490 | Olympia - Athens Copenhagen Malmö - Stockholm |
![]() | 14 | 2,750 | 1,529 | Olympia - Athens Syracuse - Catania - Messina - Reggio Calabria - Naples - Rome |
![]() | 51 | 20,065 | 870 | Olympia - Athens Istanbul - Beirut - Tehran - Lahore - New Delhi - Rangoon - Bangkok - Kuala Lumpur - Manila - Hong Kong - Taipei - Okinawa - Tokyo |
![]() | 51 | 13,620 | 2,778 | Olympia - Athens Genoa Barcelona - Madrid - Seville - Palos Las Palmas - San Salvador Island - Veracruz - Mexico City |
![]() | 30 | 5,532 | 6,000 | Olympia - Athens - Thessaloniki - Istanbul - Varna - Bucharest - Timișoara - Belgrade - Budapest - Vienna - Linz - Salzburg - Innsbruck - Garmisch-Partenkirchen - Munich |
![]() | 5 | 775 | 1,214 | Olympia - Athens Ottawa - Montreal |
![]() | 31 | 4,915 | 5,000 | Olympia - Athens - Thessaloniki - Sofia - Bucharest - Kishinev - Vinnytsia - Kiev - Tula - Moscow |
![]() | 83 | 15,000 | 3,636 | Olympia - Athens New York – Boston – Philadelphia – Washington – Detroit – Chicago – Indianapolis – Atlanta – St. Louis – Dallas – Denver – Salt Lake City – Seattle – San Francisco – San Diego - Los Angeles |
![]() | 26 | 15,250 | 1,467 | Olympia - Athens Jeju - Busan - Seoul |
![]() | 51 | 6,307 | 10,448 | Olympia - Athens Empúries - Bilbao - A Coruña - Madrid - Seville Las Palmas - Málaga - Valencia Palma de Mallorca – Barcelona |
![]() | 112 | 29,016 | 13,267 | Olympia - Athens Los Angeles – Las Vegas – San Francisco – Seattle – Salt Lake City – Denver – Dallas – St. Louis – Minneapolis – Chicago – Detroit - Boston – New York – Philadelphia – Washington – Miami – Birmingham - Atlanta |
![]() | 127 | 27,000 | 13,300 | Olympia - Athens Guam - Palau - Federated States of Micronesia - Nauru - Solomon Islands -Papua New Guinea - Vanuatu - Samoa - American Samoa - Cook Islands - Tonga - Queenstown - Christchurch - Wellington - Rotorua - Auckland - Uluru - Brisbane - Darwin - Perth - Adelaide - Melbourne - Canberra - Sydney |
![]() | 142 | 86,000 | 11,360 | Olympia - Marathonas - Athens Sydney - Melbourne - Tokyo - Seoul - Beijing - Delhi - Cairo - Cape Town - Rio de Janeiro - Mexico City - Los Angeles - St. Louis - Atlanta - New York - Montreal - Antwerp - Brussels - Amsterdam - Lausanne - Geneva - Paris - London - Madrid - Barcelona - Rome - Munich - Berlin - Stockholm - Helsinki - Moscow - Kiev - Istanbul - Sofia - Nicosia - Iraklion - Thessaloniki - Patras - Athens |
![]() | 130 | 137,000 | 21,880 | Olympia - Athens - Beijing - Almaty - Istanbul - Saint Petersburg - London – Paris – San Francisco – Buenos Aires – Dar es Salaam – Muscat – Islamabad – New Delhi – Bangkok – Kuala Lumpur – Jakarta – Canberra – Nagano – Seoul – Pyongyang – Ho Chi Minh City – Hong Kong – Macau – Sanya - Wuzhishan - Wanning - Haikou ' – Guangzhou - Shenzhen - Huizhou - Shantou ' – Fuzhou - Quanzhou - Xiamen - Longyan ' – Ruijin - Jinggangshan - Nanchang ' – Wenzhou - Shaoxing - Hangzhou - Ningbo - Jiaxing ' – Shanghai – Suzhou - Nantong - Taizhou - Yangzhou - Nanjing ' – Hefei - Huainan - Wuhu - Jixi - Huangshan ' – Wuhan - Yichang - Jingzhou ' – Yueyang - Changsha - Shaoshan ' – Guilin - Nanning - Baise ' – Kunming - Lijiang - Shangri-La ' – Guiyang - Kaili - Zunyi ' – Chongqing – Ürümqi - Kashgar - Shihezi - Changji ' – Lhasa ' – Golmud - Qinghai Lake - Xining ' – Yuncheng - Pingyao - Taiyuan - Datong ' – Jiuquan – Zhongwei - Wuzhong - Yinchuan ' – Yan'an - Yangling - Xianyang - Xi'an ' – Dunhuang - Jiayuguan - Lanzhou ' – Hohhot - Ordos - Baotou - Chifeng ' – Harbin - Daqing - Qiqihar ' – Changchun - Songyuan - Jilin - Yanji ' – Shenyang - Anshan - Dalian ' –Qingdao - Linyi - Qufu - Tai'an - Jinan ' – Zhengzhou - Kaifeng - Luoyang - Anyang ' – Shijiazhuang - Qinhuangdao - Tangshan ' – Tianjin – Guang'an - Leshan - Chengdu ' – Beijing Sichuan route postponed to the end due to earthquake. |
![]() | 70 | 12,800 | 8,000 | Olympia - Athens - Land's End - Plymouth - Exeter - Taunton - Bristol - Cheltenham - Worcester - Malvern ' - Cardiff - Swansea - Aberystwyth - Bangor ' - Chester - Stoke-on-Trent - Bolton - Liverpool ' - Douglas ' - Portrush - Derry - Newry ' - Dublin - Belfast ' - Glasgow - Inverness - Kirkwall - Lerwick - Stornoway - Aberdeen - Dundee - Edinburgh ' - Alnwick - Newcastle - Durham - Middlesbrough - Hull - York - Carlisle - Bowness-on-Windermere - Blackpool - Manchester - Leeds - Sheffield - Cleethorpes - Lincoln - Nottingham - Derby - Birmingham - Coventry - Leicester - Peterborough - Norwich - Ipswich - Chelmsford - Cambridge - Luton - Oxford - Reading - Basingstoke - Winchester - Salisbury - Weymouth and Portland - Bournemouth - Southampton ' - Saint Peter Port ' - Saint Helier ' - Portsmouth - Brighton and Hove - Brighton - Hastings - Dover - Maidstone - Guildford - London ' |
![]() | 106 | 20,000 | 12,000 | Olympia - Athens - Lausanne - Geneva - Brasilia ' - Goiânia ' - Belo Horizonte ' - Vitória ' - Salvador ' - Aracaju ' - Maceió ' - Recife ' - Joao Pessoa ' - Natal ' - Fernando de Noronha - Fortaleza ' - Teresina ' - Palmas ' - São Luís ' - Belém ' - Macapá ' - Boa Vista ' - Manaus ' - Rio Branco ' - Porto Velho ' - Cuiabá ' - Campo Grande '- Porto Alegre ' - Florianópolis ' - Curitiba ' - São Paulo ' - Rio de Janeiro |
![]() | 111 | - | - | Olympia - Athens - Fukushima - Utsunomiya - Maebashi - Nagano - Gifu - Tokyo Irregular period, relay in Greece started on 12 March 2020 in Ancient Olympia, then curtailed in Sparta the next day, and later finished in Athens without spectators on 19 March 2020, the relay went later suspended on 25 March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic after the Olympics postponed to 2021. Japan relay will start on 25 March 2021 in Naraha and will end on 23 July 2021 during the opening ceremony. |
![]() | - | - | - | Olympia – Paris |
![]() | - | - | - | Olympia – Los Angeles |
Winter Olympic Games
Site of the Olympic Games | Days | Total length | Total number of torchbearers | Route |
![]() | 2 | 225 | 94 | Morgedal – Oslo |
![]() | 5 | Rome - Venice – Cortina d'Ampezzo | ||
![]() | 19 | 960 | 700 | Morgedal – Oslo - Los Angeles – Fresno – Squaw Valley |
![]() | 8 | Olympia – Athens Vienna – Innsbruck | ||
![]() | 50 | 7,222 | 5,000 | Olympia – Athens Paris – Strasbourg – Lyon – Bordeaux – Toulouse – Marseille – Nice – Chamonix – Grenoble |
![]() | 38 | 18,741 | 16,300 | Olympia – Athens Okinawa Tokyo – Sapporo |
![]() | 6 | 1,618 | Olympia – Athens Vienna Linz – Salzburg – Innsbruck Graz – Klagenfurt – Innsbruck | |
![]() | 15 | 12,824 | 52 | Olympia – Athens Shannon Langley Air Force Base, Hampton – Washington – Baltimore – Philadelphia – New York – Albany – Lake Placid |
![]() | 11 | 5,289 | 1,600 | Olympia – Athens Dubrovnik Split – Ljubljana – Zagreb - Sarajevo Skopje – Novi Sad – Belgrade – Sarajevo |
![]() | 95 | 18,000 | 6,250 | Olympia – Athens St. John’s, Newfoundland – Québec City – Montreal – Ottawa – Toronto – Winnipeg – Inuvik – Vancouver – Edmonton – Calgary |
![]() | 58 | 5,500 | 5,500 | Olympia – Athens Paris – Nantes – Le Havre – Lille – Strasbourg – Limoges – Bordeaux – Toulouse – Ajaccio – Nice – Marseille – Lyon – Grenoble – Albertville |
![]() | 82 | 12,000 | 7,000 | Olympia – Athens – Copenhagen – Stockholm – Oslo – Lillehammer ' |
![]() | 51 | 3,486 | 6,901 | Olympia – Athens Tokyo Hokkaidō – Chiba – Tokyo – Nagano Okinawa – Hiroshima – Kyoto – Nagano Kagoshima – Osaka – Shizuoka – Nagano |
![]() | 85 | 21,275 | 12,012 | Olympia – Athens Atlanta – Charleston, South Carolina - Jacksonville, Florida - St. Augustine, Florida – Orlando, Florida - Miami – Mobile, Alabama – Biloxi, Mississippi – New Orleans - Houston – San Antonio – Austin, Texas - Dallas – Little Rock, Arkansas - Memphis - Nashville, Tennessee – Louisville, Kentucky – Cincinnati– Pittsburgh – Cumberland, Maryland – Washington, D.C. – Baltimore – Philadelphia – New York - Hartford, Connecticut – Providence, Rhode Island - Boston – Burlington, Vermont - Lake Placid – Syracuse - Cleveland - Columbus, Ohio – Chicago – Milwaukee - Detroit – Fort Wayne, Indiana – Indianapolis – Lexington – St. Louis - Kansas City – Omaha – Wichita - Oklahoma City – Amarillo - Albuquerque - Phoenix – Los Angeles – San Francisco – Squaw Valley – Reno – Portland – Seattle – Juneau – Boise – Bozeman – Cheyenne – Denver – Salt Lake City |
![]() | 75 | 11,300 | 10,000 | Olympia – Athens Rome – Florence – Genoa – Cagliari - Valletta – Palermo – Naples – Bari – Ancona – San Marino – Bologna – Venice – Trieste - Koper - Klagenfurt - Trento – Cortina d'Ampezzo – Milan - Lugano - Bardonecchia – Albertville - Turin |
![]() | 106 | 45,000+ | 12,000+ | Olympia – Athens Victoria, British Columbia – Yukon – Northwest Territories – Alberta – Saskatchewan – Manitoba – Nunavut – Quebec – Newfoundland and Labrador – Nova Scotia – Prince Edward Island – New Brunswick – Quebec – Ontario – Manitoba – Saskatchewan – Alberta – Washington – Vancouver |
![]() | 123 | 65,000 | 14,000+ | Olympia – Amaliada - Elis - Pyrgos - Zacharo - Kalo Nero - Tripoli - Levidi - Lefkasi - Kalavryta - Patras - Rio - Missolonghi - Agrinio - Karpenisi - Lamia - Volos - Larissa - Katerini - Thessaloniki - Giannitsa - Naousa - Edessa - Florina - Kastoria - Grevena - Ioannina - Kalabaka - Trikala - Karditsa - Lamia - Amfissa - Delphi - Arachova - Livadeia - Athens - Moscow - Kolomna - Odintsovo - Arkhangelskoye - Krasnogorsk - Dmitrov - Saint Petersburg – Kaliningrad – Murmansk – Arkhangelsk – Yakutsk – Vladivostok – Irkutsk – Novosibirsk – Kazan – Nizhny Novgorod – Volgograd – Rostov-on-Don – Astrakhan – Grozny – Sochi |
![]() | 101 | 2,018 | 7,500 | Olympia – Athens - Incheon – Jeju – Busan – Ulsan – Geoje - Tongyeong - Changwon - Changnyeong - Sacheon ' – Yeosu - Suncheon - Gangjin - Mokpo - Damyang - Gokseong ' – Muju - Jeonju ' – Buyeo ' – Daejeon – Sejong – Osong – Jincheon - Chungju - Danyang ' – Bonghwa - Andong ' – Daegu – Pohang ' – Suwon ' – Seoul – Paju - Yeoncheon ' – Hwacheon - Goseong - Hwacheon - Hwacheon - Hoengseong - Samcheok - Jeongseon - Pyeongchang |
![]() | - | - | - | Olympia – Beijing |
![]() | - | - | - | Olympia – Milan |
Youth Summer Olympic Games
Site of the Olympic Games | Days | Total length | Total number of torchbearers | Route |
![]() | 22 | 26,700+ | 2,400+ | Olympia – Berlin - Dakar - Mexico City - Auckland - Seoul - Singapore |
![]() | 108 | 104 | Athens - 258 different online locations from the 204 participating NOCs - Nanjing | |
![]() | 63 | 14,000 | - | Athens - La Plata ' - Parana ' - Santa Fe ' - Iguazu ' - Corrientes ' - Jujuy ' - Salta ' - Catamarca ' - La Rioja ' - Mendoza ' - San Juan ' - Cordoba ' - Neuquen ' - Bariloche ' - Ushuaia ' - Buenos Aires ' |
![]() | - | - | - | Athens - Dakar |
Youth Winter Olympic Games
Site of the Olympic Games | Days | Total length | Total number of torchbearers | Route |
![]() | 18 | 3,573 | 2,012 | Olympia - Innsbruck - Bregenz - St. Anton am Arlberg - Lienz - Klagenfurt - Semmering - Wien - Graz - Eisenstadt - St. Pölten - Linz - Salzburg - Schladming - Seefeld in Tirol - Kühtai - Kufstein - Innsbruck |
![]() | 74 | - | - | Athens - Lillehammer - Alta - Oslo - Gjøvik - Otta - Elverum - Trysil - Lillehammer |
![]() | 110 | - | - | Athens - Lausanne - Morges - Nyon – Yverdon-les-Bains - Payerne - Aigle - Ollon - University of Lausanne - Échallens - Château-d'Œx - Prilly - Bourg-en-Lavaux - Lausanne - Geneva - Neuchâtel - Lausanne |
![]() | - | - | - | Athens - Chuncheon |