Britain's Royal Navy to start torch race

Britain's Royal Navy to start torch race

Published May. 12, 2012 1:00 a.m. ET

Britain's Royal Navy will be the first to welcome the Olympic torch.

The force's search and rescue squadron will greet the flame when it arrives May 18 from Athens aboard a special British Airways plane.

Organizers said Saturday the flame will stay a night at a Royal Navy air base in Culdrose, Cornwall, before it is flown to Land's End - the most westerly point in England - in a search and rescue helicopter.

From there, the torch will begin its journey across the U.K. in a relay that involves 8,000 torchbearers traveling 8,000 miles.

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The torch is to reach the Olympic Stadium in London on the eve of July 27.

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