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Follow the Olympic torch
Benedict Moore-Bridger, Evening Standard20.03.08
The full details of the London leg of the Olympic torch relay route were unveiled today before the Beijing Games.
The torch will pass through the capital on Sunday 6 April carried by 80 torchbearers, including double Olympic champion Dame Kelly Holmes, newsreader Sir Trevor McDonald and former British tennis number one Tim Henman.
Almost a quarter of the places for torchbearers have been awarded to London schoolchildren, who will each carry the flame for 250 metres.
The relay begins at Wembley amid African, Indian and Irish dance groups, before heading through Notting Hill and Hyde Park.
It will be carried by open-top bus along Oxford Street towards the British Museum and into Chinatown, welcomed by more dancers and performers.
The convoy passes through Piccadilly Circus and Trafalgar Square accompanied by brass bands as the flame is exchanged in front of Nelson's Column.
It then heads to Downing Street, passes the Southbank Centre and arrives at Somerset House for a Bollywood brass band performance. The torch moves to St Paul's Cathedral before crossing Tower Bridge and heading eastwards to Stratford, near the Olympic Park.
It finishes its London journey at the O2 Arena where it will light a "cauldron" at a spectacular fireworks ceremony with a performance by Sugababes.
The torch will then move on to Paris. The route aims to represent Olympic ideals. Dubbed a "journey of harmony", it will be the longest in Olympic history, passing through 23 countries. It leaves Mount Olympia in Greece on 25 March and arrives at the Beijing Games opening ceremony on 8 August.
Reader views (2)
I don't see how effective security can be provided over the whole route.
Unless Tibet is taken off the flame's itinerary I expect it will be snatched and extinguished within an hour of its journey across London.
- Douglas Wade, Banbury, UK
So, no visit to Stratford? That's surprising since it will be the heart of the 2012 Olympic Games.
- Tony, London
