Innsbruck 2012 announce Youth Olympic Torch relay route

By David Gold

October 9 - The route of the 2012 Winter Youth Olympic Torch Relay has been revealed, taking in 65 sites over 18 days and involving 2012 torchbearers.

The nine regional capitals across Austria will all be visited during the relay, including some of the most famous winter sports resorts.

The torch relay begins on December 27 in Innsbruck and will return for the Opening Ceremony of the Games on January 13 to light the Olympic Cauldron, marking the inaugural Winter Youth Olympic Games.

It will also mark a historic moment for Innsbruck, as it becomes the first host city to welcome the Olympic Flame on three separate occasions, having previously hosted the Winter Olympics in 1964 and 1976.

There is an added historic element to the lighting of the torch, as the Olympic tradition of lighting the torch using the sunlight and a concave mirror began in 1964 when the flame made its way from Olympia to Innsbruck for the Winter Olympics that year, and it will follow the same route once more in December.

The route the torch will take can be found here.

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