The Beijing Olympic Torch Relay will visit Australia in April next year, with Chinese officials choosing the nation’s capital, Canberra, as the only Australian city to receive the honour of hosting a leg of the relay.

The Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) is working with the Federal and ACT Governments to plan the celebration on April 24, 2008 which will involve up to 80 torch bearers carrying the Olympic flame.

Prime Minister John Howard said he was delighted Canberra would be one of the cities included on the Olympic Torch Relay route.

“I am delighted that Canberra has been chosen for the 2008 torch relay. As the national capital and home of the Australian Institute of Sport, Canberra has played a significant role in Australia’s Olympic preparations over many years” he said.

The ACT Chief Minister Jon Stanhope said, “Canberra, as the national capital of Australia and Beijing's Australian sister city, is extremely proud to have been selected as a destination for the momentous journey of the Beijing Olympic Torch Relay.”

“Canberra became a member of the 'Olympic Family' in 2000 when it hosted soccer matches as part of the successful Sydney Olympics. The arrival of the Torch Relay next April will again focus the eyes of the world on what we consider to be one of the world's most beautiful capital cities,” he said.

The flame will arrive in Canberra from Jakarta on the evening of April 23. The following day the relay will wind its way around Canberra for approximately five hours before the flame heads to its next destination in Japan.

“The AOC would like to invite past Olympians and young Beijing hopefuls to run with the torch on a route which will include Federal Parliament House and other significant Canberra landmarks,” said AOC President John Coates.

“Torch Bearers will be sourced from the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) and the Australian Capital Territory Academy of Sport (ACTAS) as an acknowledgement of their contribution to the Australian Olympic Team. Members of the local community will also be invited to participate” Coates said.

“The AIS, in particular, has been the breeding ground for Australia’s outstanding success on the international sporting stage for more than a quarter of a century, so it is only fitting the Institute be part of this special occasion in sharing the Olympic spirit,” said the Minister for the Arts and Sport, Senator George Brandis.

The 2004 Athens Torch Relay visited the previous Olympic host cities of Sydney and Melbourne.

The Federal Minister for Small Business and Tourism Fran Bailey said she was delighted Canberra had been included in the worldwide relay route.

“It is a wonderful opportunity for us to promote Australia, in particular our nation’s capital” she said.

Titled “a journey of harmony” the flame will begin its journey at Olympia, Greece in March 2008 and visit 22 cities around the world and throughout China.

The relay, which symbolises peace and friendship, ends with the lighting of the Olympic Cauldron at the Opening Ceremony of the XXIX Olympiad in Beijing at 8pm on the 8/8/2008.

Eight is considered by the Chinese as a number that brings good fortune and great prosperity.

A delegation from the Beijing Organising Committee for the Olympic Games (BOCOG) will travel to Canberra on the 24th and 25th of May 2007 to attend a planning meeting.

AOC