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LA28 names Atlanta as starting city for nationwide Olympic torch relay

The 2028 Olympic flame will begin its U.S. journey in the 1996 host city before traveling through all 50 states on its way to Los Angeles.

Image credit: Ken Samuels via ExpoDistrict / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0; archival 1996 photograph of an Olympic torchbearer in Los Angeles, not the planned 2028 relay

The U.S. leg of the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic torch relay will begin in Atlanta and visit all 50 states before reaching Los Angeles, LA28 and the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee announced September 29. The flame will be lit in Olympia, Greece, before starting its American journey in spring 2028.

What it means locally

Organizers said the relay will pass major landmarks, stop at cultural and sporting events and include celebrations in selected cities. The complete route and timing will be announced in 2027, and details on torchbearer nominations are still to come. Atlanta hosted the 1996 Summer Games and will welcome the flame back 32 years later. A separate Paralympic torch relay will follow the Olympic Games in August 2028, beginning with a flame lit in Stoke Mandeville, England; its U.S. starting city has not yet been announced. The accompanying photograph shows a 1996 Olympic torchbearer in Los Angeles and is archival, not an image of the September 2026 announcement or the planned 2028 relay.

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