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Two years before each Olympics, thousands, perhaps millions, of people compete to be Olympic torchbearers. The host city's Olympic Games Organizing Committee selects the runners. They bring the flame to the games under the rules of the Olympic Charter (PDF), and each Olympic host has some leeway in how it picks torchbearers. For the 2006 Winter Games in Tornio, the torchbearer application requires that candidates live in Italy, be over 10 years old, and don't hold political office between December, 2004 and February, 2006. This relay is relatively short -- the flame started in Greece, was
flown to Rome, and is being carried through all parts of Italy. Since the 1964 Winter Games, the torch has been lit in Olympia (PDF). For the three Winter Olympics before that, the torch was lit in Norway, considered the birthplace of skiing. The Summer Games torch relay premiered in 1936 and has always been lit in Olympia. The Athens 2004 Summer Games had a relay within Greece and around the world. For the local torchbearers, any Greek resident over 14 could apply, except those in elected office. The international torchbearers were chosen by
the committee. The sponsors of the relay also picked "a small number of torchbearers." No word yet on how Beijing 2008 or Vancouver 2010 will select their torchbearers, but desperate runners may consider applying for Chinese or Canadian citizenship now.
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