2004 Summer Olympics torch relay

Host city	Athens, Greece
Countries visited	Greece, Australia, Japan, South Korea, China, India, Egypt, South Africa, Brazil, Mexico, United States, Canada, Belgium, Netherlands, Switzerland, France, United Kingdom, Spain, Italy, Germany, Sweden, Finland, Russia, Ukraine, Turkey, Bulgaria, Cyprus and Albania
Start date	25 March 2004 (2004-03-25)
End date	13 August 2004 (2004-08-13)

Part of a series on
2004 Summer Olympics
Bid process (bid details) Venues Marketing (mascots) Broadcasters Torch relay Opening ceremony (flag bearers) Medal table (medalists) Closing ceremony Event calendar World and Olympic records Paralympics IOC HOC ATHOC
v t e

The 2004 Summer Olympics Torch Relay took the Olympic Flame across every habitable continent, returning to Athens, Greece. Every city which had hosted, will host, or coincidentally elected to host the Summer Olympics until the 2028 Summer Olympics was visited or revisited by the torch, as well as several other cities chosen for their international importance. The main reason why the torch relay went around the world was to highlight the fact that the Olympic Games were started in Greece (in ancient times) and in modern times have been held around the world and then took place in Greece in 2004.

The relay was the first time the Olympic flame had travelled to Africa and South America. The flame was transported from country to country aboard a specially-equipped Boeing 747 leased from Atlanta Icelandic (Registration TF-ARO) called Zeus. On board the flame was carried and burned continuously in specially modified miners lamps.