Interactive: Olympic Torch relay route

(CNN) -- The biggest showcase in the build-up for the Olympics begins on Monday, March 24, with the lighting of the Olympic torch in ancient Olympia, Greece.

It signifies the start of the international Olympic torch relay and in keeping with the rest of the Beijing Olympics' preparations it's on a grand scale.

Featuring a cast of thousands of torch bearers and covering more than 85,000 miles, the international relay route is a whirlwind tour of 23 cities across six continents in 34 days.

At the end of the international part of the relay the torch will wind its way through mainland China, with the highlight its ascent up Mount Everest in May, before ending up in Beijing for the pomp and pyrotechnics of the opening ceremony on August 8.

Each city that will host the torch has nominated a number of runners to carry it through it streets. Australian Olympic heroes Ian Thorpe and Ron Clarke will be two of the bearers as it makes it way through Canberra, while elsewhere national sporting champions, members of the public, as well as the inevitable corporate sponsors, will be taking their turn holding the specially designed torch.

Traditionally, the torch relay has been a chance for the International Olympic Committee and host country to highlight the positive ideals of the Olympic movement. "Journey of Harmony" is its official theme, and given the backdrop of violence and unrest in Tibet and worldwide protests, the organizers will be hoping it will be just that.

At a news conference on March 19, Jiang Xiaoyu, executive vice president of BOCOG, reiterated that the torch relay program was intended to "convey the message of peace and harmony" and that any attempts to disrupt the torch relay were "against the spirit of the Olympic Games ... those activities will not win hearts and minds of people and therefore are doomed to failure."

There have been some fears that the arrival of the Olympic torch could even spark violent protests against China, but there has been no talk of banning the torch by national Olympic committees.

Russian Olympic Committee spokesman Gennady Shvets told the Associated Press that Russia was "absolutely not" considering canceling the torch relay.

Using a Russian expression to underline the position that the Olympics and related events should not be colored by politics, he said: "The flies and the cutlet are separate."

Yalcin Aksoy of the Turkish Olympic Committee also told reporters there was no question of the torch not coming to his country or being refused, and that such a move would be against the Olympic spirit. "No one should mix politics with sports," he said.

However the relay is expected to attract organized protests along the route. In London, Tibetan protesters plan a rally on April 6 along with their own symbolic torch relay. They also plan to display flags and banners along the official torch route.

"Obviously we won't try to disrupt the torch relay. The torch will be carried by British citizens, such as children and disabled people," said Sophie Bod, a campaigner for the Free Tibet Campaign in London, who is organizing the rally and the symbolic relay.

"However, we will make a point along the torch route that we don't welcome it," Bod said in a report carried by the AP. E-mail to a friend

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