[Archive 2005-12-08] The 2006 Winter Olympics torch reaches Rome

Historical archive — originally published 2005-12-08. This report records what was known on that date. It is not current news; subsequent events may have changed the situation. Wikinews closed in May 2026.

With the arrival of the torch to Rome, it begins the ritual of the 2006 Winter Olympics of Turin. The torch will travel across Italy transported by more than 10'000 carriers and it will arrive in Turin on February 9, 2006, where the Winter Olympics will be inaugurated, after 11'000 km (6,835 miles) of travel.

On November 27 the flame was burned on the altar of Hestia in Olympia, in Greece, and delivered to the first torch carrier, pole vaulter Kostas Fidippidis. The first Italian to carry the olympic flame is the marathoner Stefano Baldini, winner of gold medal at the Olympics in Athens. He received the torch from the President of the Italian Republic Carlo Azeglio Ciampi.

The olympic torch has a length of 77 cm (30 inches), and is 10,5 cm (4.13 inches) at its widest, with a weight of 1.9 kg (4.2 pounds). It was designed by Pininfarina and has a shape that remembers at the same time one ski and the Mole Antonelliana.

Its external shell is made of an aluminum alloy, while the functional inner part is in steel, copper and high-tech polymer. The outside has a paint job resistant to high temperatures.

Each torch is designed to burn for 15 minutes, at altitudes from sea level to 5'000 m (16,400 feet), in temperatures between -20°C and 25°C (-4 to 77 Fahrenheit).

The flame is fed from a mixture of 40% propylene and 60% butane, which is contained in an aluminum cylinder in the torch.

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