2012 Summer Olympics torch relay
The torch relay of the Olympic Summer Games 2012 in advance of the XXX. London Olympics was held to 27 July 2012 of 10 May. After the traditional character inflammation of the Olympic flame in Olympia she was carried in a 3,000 -kilometer torch run from May 10 to 17 by Greece. They arrived at Land's End on May 19. From there the route led by England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales, the Channel Islands, the Isle of Man, Orkney, Shetland and the Hebrides, and in one day Ireland. The route in the UK was around 12,800 kilometers long and there were 8,000 torchbearers go. On July 20, the Olympic torch reached the British capital by helicopter to the Tower Bridge. At 66 of the 70 stage hosts the evening cultural events took place.
The Torch
The 80 inches long and 800 grams heavy torch was manufactured in 8000 copies. It consists of an aluminum alloy with a layer of gold and is perforated with 8000 holes, each of these holes represents a Torchbearer. The holes do not only provide a better grip, but also ensures that the heat escapes quickly and is not directed downwards.
The triangular shape of the torch represents the three Olympic values (respect, power and friendship), the Olympic motto ( "faster, higher, stronger " ), the three in London discharged Olympic Games (1908, 1948, 2012) as well as the vision of the Summer Games 2012 ( Sport, Education and Culture). The designers of the torch were Edward Barber and Jay Osgerby, responsible for the mass production companies were Tecosim in Basildon, Bullfinch in Birmingham and Premier Sheet Metal in Coventry.
Immediately after the presentation of 8 June 2011 received the torch in the public mocking name Cheesegrater Golden ( "Golden cheese grater ").
Special
The Olympic flame was brought by a civil aircraft of British Airways from Athens to the military airfield at RNAS Culdrose, who received a civil code only for this flight. There, among others, Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, organization president Sebastian Coe and the football player David Beckham took the flame in reception.
In the torch relay also some unusual modes of transport were planned. In the port of Bristol, the flame in a speedboat, in the Menai Straits in a lifeboat of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution, on the Windermere in a steamboat, in a punt on the River Cam in Cambridge and on the Medway at Maidstone should be transported in a rowboat be.
On Rails was scheduled to be necessary to have the flame of various steam locomotives and at different gauges. The locomotive of the LMS Royal Scot Class No. 6115 should they carry on the East Coast Main Line. More trips with standard gauge heritage railways were provided on the Great Central Railway, on the North Yorkshire Moors Railway and the Severn Valley Railway. Of the narrow gauge heritage railways, the Ffestiniog Railway Cleethorpes Coast Light Railway and should be considered. Should be also taken advantage of the funiculars Aberystwyth Cliff Railway, East Hill Cliff Railway and Great Orme Tramway, the cog railway Snowdon Mountain Railway. as well as the tram Blackpool and the Manx Electric Railway. On the 67th day of the torch relay, the torch between Wimbledon and Wimbledon Park was transported to the London Underground.
Special road vehicles, which should be used, were a way in Mumbles railway and an open double-decker bus in the rural areas of Cumbria. On the Isle of Man a sidecar on the circuit of the Tourist Trophy should go to the application, on the motor racing circuit Brands Hatch is a Paralympic cycling and on the Hadleigh Farm in Essex is a mountain bike.
It was planned that riders carry the torch on race horses around the racetracks of Cheltenham and Chester as well as on a pony in Aberaeron. It should also be used Douglas Bay Horse Tramway, a horse tram in Douglas. Should be transported through the air, the torch by means of a rope bridge from Newcastle upon Tyne to Gateshead and in a cable car to the Heights of Abraham in Derbyshire. On the Transporter Bridge Middlesbrough they should also be transported over the tea.
On July 20, the torch reached the British capital by means of a helicopter flight from Guildford to Tower Bridge. During the flight, the flame was carried in a miner's lamp. There, a soldier of the Royal Navy roped off with the torch out of the helicopter and brought them into the dungeon of the Tower, where since the beginning of July and the 4700 Olympic medals were stored. As of 21 July, the torch over a 321 km long stretch happened in the hands of 982 torchbearers all the individual parts of London, before the opening ceremony reached the Olympic Stadium on July 27.