II - A Legacy of the 1984 Olympic Games

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VOLUME TWO THE GAMES
2. Journey of the Flame
GREG GARAY/SOCOG
GREG GARAY/SOCOG
GREG GARAY/SOCOG
flowers at the feet of the torchbearers, in others they lined
the streets with carpets from their homes for the torchbearers
to run on.
For the first time the torch relay visited some of the Greek
islands. A military boat carried the torch entourage and the
flame between the islands. The vessel was often joined by a
flotilla of smaller craft and fishing boats to guide the torch to
their shores. Once on the island, the local relay and festivities
were held and at night the flame rested in the host island's
town hall.
On 20 May, the torch relay around Greece came to an end at
the site of the first modern Olympic Games, the Panathenaic
Stadium in Athens. A cauldron was lit from the relay flame,
and the Hellenic Olympic Committee President, Lambis
Nikolaou, ignited a torch from the cauldron to hand to
SOCOG Board Member, the Honourable Chris Hartcher,
saying, "I am convinced that the Olympic flame, which has
managed to preserve symbolic character through many
difficult circumstances, will be able to once more breathe
faith into our hearts and revive our love for the timeless
principles and values it enshrines."
Oceania
A special charter aircraft operated by the official carrier,
Ansett, transferred the Olympic flame in a safety lantern
directly from Athens to the Pacific Ocean island of Guam for
the commencement of the Oceania segment of the Sydney
2000 Olympic Torch Relay, arriving there on 22 May.
As the torch relay entered the Oceania region, the sense of the
Games' immediacy heightened. The 12 Pacific countries
gladly greeting the Torch were alike in the heartiness of their
welcome and, as part of Oceania, were for Australia an
integral part of the pre-Games celebrations. The Australian
Federal Government met the cost of this section of the relay
to enable its neighbours to be included. New Zealand's
Olympic Committee Secretary-General declared that the
people of Australia were, "Showcasing to the world the
friendship that exists within the Olympic Family of Oceania".
It was a feast of welcomes as the torch passed from one
island nation to another. Traditional singing, chanting and
dancing greeted the flame on its journey by canoe, locomotive
and royal platform. Strong sunshine and enormous beach
parties greeted the torchbearers in the tropical regions. Each
day 100 torchbearers bore the flame, and each evening a
celebration was held.
In Guam, in addition to the celebrations surrounding the
Olympic flame, there was a peaceful demonstration by
the Chomorro people in support of Aboriginal land
rights and the rights of indigenous people throughout
the region. From there, the action moved to Palau, the
Federated States of Micronesia, then Nauru, the Solomon
Islands, Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu, Samoa, American
Samoa, the Cook Islands, Tonga and finally New
Zealand before the flame arrived in Australia. Fiji had to
be bypassed because of the political crisis in that country
at the time.