Cairo will get to see the Olympic flame up close tomorrow as the torch tours the globe. Inas Mazhar reports Egypt is the seventh stopover for the torch which began its journey from Olympia and, after it travels across the globe, will return to the Athens Olympic Stadium on 13 August where it will signal the beginning of the 2004 XXVIII Olympiad. The torch had previously stopped at Sydney, Melbourne, Tokyo, Seoul, Beijing and New Delhi. The torch arrives in Cairo tomorrow from New Delhi on board Zeus and Hera, two Greek aircraft, in the greatest promotion campaign ever undertaken by an Olympic Games host country. Zeus is expected to arrive at Cairo Airport at 8.30am transporting the torch, the equipment and the motorbikes that will be needed for the relay. At 11.30, the Hera arrives carrying 140 international sports figures and sponsors. The relay starts at the headquarters of the Egyptian National Olympic Committee in Nasr City at 2pm. The route is 34 kilometres from Nasr City to where it ends at the Pyramids. The torch will be passing by and through Heliopolis, Ain Shams University, Abbassiya, Ghamra, Ramses Square, Gomhoriya Street, 26 July Street and downtown until it reaches Tahrir Square where Cairo Governorate is preparing a short celebration. The relay will then continue from the Arab League headquarters across Kasr Al-Nil Bridge to Cairo Tower, Ahli Club, across Galaa' Bridge, to Giza Zoo and from there to Cairo University for the second phase where Giza Governorate has prepared another 15-minute entertainment stopover. It will then continue to Giza Square, the Pyramids Road until Mena House Hotel. The last runner will ascend the tallest pyramid, then climb down to the sphinx at 7.30pm when a 45-minute sun and light show marks the end of the day's festivities. During the five-and-a-half-hour tour, 100 runners will carry the torch, some for a distance of no more than 300 metres. "They are not only sports celebrities but come from all fields -- artists, business, media and politicians," Ahmed Enan, Egyptian National Olympic Committee (NOC) managing director, said. "Everyone will be wearing a special Athens 2004 outfit." "It's a great honour for Egypt to be among the 33 cities where the torch will pass," Mounir Sabet, president of the Egyptian Olympic Committee, said. "We have made history by becoming the first African nation to receive the torch in our great ancient lands. The selection of Cairo marks recognition by the IOC and the Olympic Games organisers of Egypt's sports history." After Cairo, the torch travels to Cape Town in South Africa for its second and final African stop. The torch relay started its tour around the globe on 4 June in Sydney giving an opportunity for the Australians to re-live the spirit of 2000. Cathy Freeman, the 2000 Games 400-metre gold medal winner, was the first torch-bearer outside Greece. "The flame gives people the chance to share the spirit of the Olympic Games," Freeman said. "It's a global celebration. The arrival of the flame in our country is an opportunity for Australians to wish Athens every success in the organisation of the Games." The flame will travel to 33 cities in 27 countries. The total journey will last some 78 days. Outside Greece the flame will travel for 35 days, covering a distance of approximately 78,000 kilometres, 1,500 of which will be in the hands of 3,600 torch- bearers. A total of 260 million people will have the opportunity to see the flame in their city. It is also the first time the Olympic torch will go to Latin America. The flame will pass by all past Olympic cities, bringing them once again the light and joy of the Olympic celebration. It will pass through cities with special symbolic meaning, such as Brussels, heart of the European Union, Lausanne, seat of the International Olympic Committee and Olympic Museum, and Beijing, host city of the next Games. The relay embraces all cultures and all five continents symbolised by the five Olympic rings; its light will remind the world of the Olympic ideals and make concrete concepts such as participation, fraternity and peace. Speaking at the Eleftherios Venizelos International Airport where she saw the Olympic flame off on its global journey, Athens 2004 President Gianna Angelopoulos-Daskalaki said, "The benefits to result from this opening up of our country to the world shall be priceless, and shall be enjoyed by all Greeks in the years to come. "Today, the Olympic flame of Greece sets out on its journey, for the first time to all five continents, for the first time to Africa and to Latin America," Angelopoulos said. Angelopoulos then climbed to the stairs and handed the Olympic flame to the crew of the aircraft. Throughout the trip, the flame will be kept in special lanterns made of iron, steel and glass. The lanterns are 35 centimetres tall and weigh 1,902 grammes. Five protective steel bars run around the glass. The wick is especially designed (non-smoke- emitting and slow-burning) and is kept moist internally by a mechanism which also ensures constant fuel flow. The lantern may be safely re-fuelled while the wick is burning. "As it leaves Greece for its journey around the five continents symbolised by the Olympic rings, the Olympic flame is set to remind the world of universal Olympic principles," International Olympic Committee President Jacques Rogge said. "Whether male or female, young or old, able-bodied or disabled, high-level athlete or amateur, whether we live in a wealthy or a developing country, the flame unites us all."
