By Xinhua
Buenos Aires : Argentina will prepare itself to embrace the Beijing Olympic Torch Relay slated for next April, the president of the Argentine Olympic Committee (COA) Julio Cassanello said here.
Julio Cassanello told Xinhua that it is an honour for Argentina as Buenos Aires has been chosen as the only South American city to host the Beijing Olympic Torch Relay. The COA will cooperate with Buenos Aires authorities closely to ensure the smooth running of the event.
The COA will decide on the final list of torchbearers by the end of the year, the president said, adding that the list would include many dignitaries of Argentinan sport.
The Beijing Organizing Committee for the 2008 Olympic Games (BOCOG) signed an agreement here Wednesday with Buenos Aires for the Torch Relay in the city.
Lin Xiaohua, deputy director of the Torch Relay Center, inked the deal with Buenos Aires Mayor Mauricio Macri and Cassanello.
Lin said that BOCOG chose the Argentine capital city as the only South American city to host the event in view of the rapid development of friendly relations between the two countries and the fact the capitals of the two countries have become sister cities.
The relay of the Olympic torch, which will arrive in Buenos Aires April 10 from the US city of San Francisco, will start in the Argentine capital from April 11, before it is transferred to Tanzania’s Dar Es Salaam.
The relay will have the longest route in the Olympic Torch Relay history, involving a record number of 21,880 torchbearers who will cover a total distance of 137,000 km in 130 days.
The relay will begin March 25, 2008 with the lighting of the flame at Olympia, followed by a one-week journey to Athens, where the Greek Olympic Committee passes the torch to a representative of China March 30, 2008.
From Beijing, the relay winds across Asia, Europe, America, Africa, Oceania, and then back to China before the torch ignites the cauldron at the opening ceremony Aug. 8, 2008.
The Olympic Torch Relay, themed “Journey of Harmony” and with “Light the Passion Share the Dream” as a slogan, will be held in 21 cities as well as China’s 31 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities, covering the widest span of area in history.
One of the highlights of the relay will be the ascent of the Olympic Flame to the world’s highest peak, Mt. Qomolangma.