London 2012 offers first Torchbearer places for the Olympic Torch Relay

• The first 6,800 conditional offers of Torchbearer places for the Olympic Torch Relay made today
• A further 1,200 offers to be made by the end of January 2012 to complete the 8,000 strong London 2012 Torchbearer team
• High quality nominations received from right across the UK for personal achievement and/or contribution to local communities

Today the London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) begins to make conditional offers to 8,000 inspiring people to carry the Olympic Flame next summer during the 70 day Olympic Torch Relay. 6,800 people are today one step closer to becoming a London 2012 Olympic Torchbearer and having their moment to shine next summer. The offers made today include the day of the Relay the Torchbearer is invited to carry the Olympic Flame.

90% of the total 8,000 Torchbearer places have been made available to people nominated for a personal best through a number of channels, including the four public nomination campaigns run by LOCOG and the three Presenting Partners of the London 2012 Olympic Torch Relay: Coca-Cola, Lloyds TSB and Samsung. The remaining 10% of places are offered by invitation.

Over 5,600 inspiring people with an offer of a place today were selected through these four nomination programmes run earlier in the year. Each of the four campaigns focused on recognising and rewarding people with a story of personal achievement and/or contribution to the local community with the once in a lifetime opportunity of carrying the Olympic Flame.

Next steps for people with an offer of a place today include accepting the date they have been offered to take part in the Torch Relay, providing a copy of specified documents, confirming their uniform size and any access
requirements by 25 January 2012. Every offer of a Torchbearer place is subject to passing the required background checks and final confirmation of becoming a Torchbearer will be communicated by LOCOG by March 2012. Next year’s confirmation of Torchbearer places will include the name of the town, village, city, or London Borough through which the Torchbearer is invited to carry the Olympic Flame. A further communication much closer to the time of the Torch Relay will confirm the details of the exact 300m (on average) stretch of the route along which the Torchbearer will carry the Olympic Flame. Sebastian Coe, Chair of LOCOG, said: ‘Thank you to everyone who took the time to nominate a friend, a colleague or a family member through one of the four campaigns. Today we are one step closer to giving thousands of people their moment to shine during the Olympic Torch Relay next summer. The sum of the individual stories of our Torchbearers will show the world that the Olympic spirit is alive and well right across the UK.’

An average of 115 people a day will take centre stage next summer by carrying the Olympic Flame on its 8,000 mile journey around the UK before it arrives at the Olympic Stadium on 27 July 2012 for the lighting of the cauldron at the Opening Ceremony, signifying the official start of the London 2012 Olympic Games.