Rio 2016 Olympic Torch Relay Runs on Twitter

The Olympic flame gets its Twitter profile. Since the ceremony at the Temple of Hera in Olympia on Thursday (21 April), the flame has been providing followers of the @OlympicFlame account with an exclusive backstage view of the Rio 2016 Olympic Torch Relay.

The account will be active until 21 August, when the Olympic cauldron at the Marcanã Stadium is put out in the closing ceremony for the Olympic Games.

According to Olympic Games administration, this is the first time that the Olympic flame is speaking with its own voice on social media.

“The account will be active as long as the real flame is alive,” says Benjamin Paz, manager of digital engagement at Rio 2016. “It will be suspended at the end of Rio 2016 but it will come back to life for the next Olympic relay.”

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The account is run by Twitter in partnership with the Rio 2016 Organising Committee. In the first few days of its journey, the flame has been tweeting details of the destinations it has visited, the sights it has seen and the people who have been carrying it. The account is a frequent user of Periscope, the live streaming app that is owned by Twitter.

On Wednesday, the Olympic Torch Relay will arrive at Panathinaiko Stadium in Athens, the venue for the historic 1896 Olympic Games, where it will be formally handed over to Brazil and to the Rio 2016 Organising Committee.

The torch will then spend 28 April to 2 May in Switzerland. It will visit the headquarters of the United Nations in Geneva before going on display at the nearby Olympic Museum in Lausanne, home of the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

The Brazilian section of the relay will begin on 3 May in capital city Brasília. About 12,000 torch bearers will take part as the relay passes through more than 300 towns and cities.

The 95-day event will culminate at the opening ceremony at the Maracanã stadium on 5 August, when the flame is used to light the Olympic cauldron.