The Olympic flame is lit in Olympia, Greece before the start of every Olympic Games. Then it takes a journey—across continents, countries and cities—to the host destination as part of the Olympic Torch Relay.
In 2028, the flame will end in host city Los Angeles, but not without a stop in the Hostess City of the South.
Savannah City Council approved Thursday an agreement with the Los Angeles Organizing Committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Games of 2028 to bring the Olympic flame to Savannah. The Savannah stop will occur after the flame’s U.S. tour kicks off in Atlanta, although the full torch route will be released next year, according to the LA28 website.
“I think this is a wonderful opportunity for our city,” said Savannah Mayor Van Johnson,
who said he had been working with the LAOC for months on the agreement.
![July 9, 1996 – Swann Seiler receives the Olympic flame at the River Street Ceremony as Governor Zell Miller, right, and ACOG director Billy Payne, far right, look on. [John Carrington/savannahnow.com]](https://www.gannett-cdn.com/authoring/2020/08/03/NSMN/ghows_image-GA-fd2447df-c4b2-474e-81b8-ec8029e2d971.jpeg)
The flame will journey through all 50 states during the 2028 relay before arriving at the Opening Ceremony on July 14. LAOC CEO Reynold Hoover sent a letter to Johnson on April 24 alongside the relay agreement, inviting the city to participate in the event.
The agreement outlines the ways in which the LAOC and city will collaborate on the relay, calling for assistance the relay’s staging and ensuring no other major events occur on the day of the relay. The city will also develop a community task force to select a torchbearer and specific local relay route.
“The 2028 Olympic Torch Relay will create a meaningful legacy in your city and offer your community a unique opportunity to participate in the 2028 Games,” Hoover said in the letter.
Council’s approval of the agreement came just over two weeks after Atlanta was named as the first city on the relay.
The 2028 relay will mark the second time the flame has visited Savannah. The first was 30 years ago this summer when Savannah hosted the Olympic Yachting events during the 1996 games hosted by Atlanta, according to a City of Savannah Municipal Archives blog commemorating the event.
The flame arrived via schooner America on Savannah’s iconic River Street. The flame was then carried through Savannah’s National Historic Landmark District downtown to Daffin Park, according to the blog.
It passed through Forsyth Park on a return to River Street for lighting of the Olympic Cauldron. An estimated 100,000 people turned out to watch the relay that year, according to the blog.
Johnson, who will be out of office due to term limits during 2028’s relay, said he is excited to see Savannah as part of the Olympics again.
"I want as many people to see it and experience it as possible,” Johnson said. “There are people who were not around in 1996, and we have the chance to make history once again.”
Evan Lasseter is the City of Savannah and Chatham County government reporter for the Savannah Morning News. You can reach him at ELasseter@savannahnow.com.
This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Olympic flame to visit Savannah on 2028 Olympic Torch Relay
