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Cover Story

Cover Story - Spanish Version

Mini-Lesson

Comprehension Quiz

Teacher's Guide and Worksheets

The Olympic Torch's Trail

It's here! Last Saturday the Olympic flame arrived by plane in Los Angeles, California. It had been lighted by the sun's rays in Greece, the land where the Olympics began.

The torch will travel to Atlanta, Georgia, by cable car, steamboat, biplane--even pony express! But most of the 10,000 torchbearers will be on the run. They will carry the 3 1/2-pound torch across 42 states and 15,000 miles. The 84-day trip will cost $20 million, most of it paid by Coca-Cola. It's the longest relay ever.

Start April 27: Los Angeles, California
The flame arrives from Athens, Greece. Janet Evans, 24, is one of 800 Olympians in the relay. Evans won gold medals for swimming in 1988 and 1992.

San Francisco, California
A cable car will take the flame on a ride through the hilly streets.

Shaquile O'Neal, 24,
the Orlando Magic star, will be a torchbearer. Where he'll be running is not yet decided.

May 14: Kearnby, Nebraska
A pony-express rider arrives with the torch.

Texas
The flame takes flight in a biplane.

May 30: Hannibal, Missouri
Kids dressed as Tom Sawyer and Becky Thatcher greet the torchbearers in Mark Twain's hometown.

June 15: Boston, Massachusetts
Nancy Kerrigan, figure skating's 1994 silver-medal winner, picks up the torch.

June 19: Baltimore, Maryland
Amber Coffman, 14, one of 5,500 "Community Heroes," carries the torch. Three years ago, Amber formed a group that feeds about 300 homeless people each weekend.

June 30: Selma, Alabama
Andrew Young, former mayor of Atlanta, carries the torch at the site of an important 1965 civil rights march.

July 12: Plains, Georgia
Jimmy Carter, the former U.S. President, and a torchbearer, joins the celebration in his hometown.

Finish July 19: Atlanta, Georgia
The flame arrives at the Olympic stadium during opening ceremonies."]

Next: The Other Olympics