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ATHENS, Aug. 13 (Xinhuanet) -- After 78 days of traveling around Greece and
the world, the Olympic flame reached the Olympic Stadium and ignited the
cauldron of the 28th Olympic Games at the opening ceremony Friday evening.
Following are some interesting facts and figures regarding the flame
journey in Greece and the world:
Javelin thrower Constantinos Gatsioudis lit cauldron at ancient Olympia on
March 25, 2004.
Flame arrived at Pathinaiko Stadium, where the cauldron was litby Greek
sprinter Ekaterini Thanou on March 29, 2004.
A total of 11,000 bearers carried the flame in its global relay.
The flame has traveled to five continents, 34 cities including next Olympic
Games host city Beijing in 26 countries. And for the first time the flame
traveled to the African continent -- Cape Town in South Africa.
The total distance the flame traveled out of Greece is 78,000 km of flight
and it was carried by 3,600 torch bearers covering 1,500 km.
While in Greece, 7,000 torch bearers carried the flame through 170
municipalities.
Theme of the international Olympic flame relay is "Pass the Flame, Unite
the World". The flame lit up some of the most important monuments of human
civilization, and some of the most famous landmarks around the world. The
flame's journey through the Great Wall in Chinese capital city of Beijing and
the Pyramidsin Cairo were some of the most memorable moments in the torch's
global travels.
Torch bearers included Nelson Mandela, Pele, Sylvester Stallone,Tom Cruise,
Nadia Comaneci, Ronaldo, Ziko, Sergey Bubka and otherswho can also be
characterized as among the most important athletesof each country.
A total of 260 million people watched the travel of the flame. And the
countries the flame covered outside Greece are Australia, Japan, South Korea,
China, India, Egypt, South Africa, Brazil, Mexico, the United States, Canada,
Belgium, the Netherlands, Switzerland, France, Britain, Spain, Italy, Germany,
Sweden, Finland, Russia, Ukraine, Turkey, Bulgaria and Cyprus. Enditem
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