Yes, All 50 States
Whatever state you live in, the Olympic flame is coming. LA28 has confirmed it.
That has never been true before. Every previous American torch relay skipped somewhere: Los Angeles 1984 reached 33 states, Atlanta 1996 reached 42, Salt Lake 2002 reached 46. For 2028, LA28 CEO Reynold Hoover made it plain: "We will do a 50-state torch relay. It's never been done before."
The relay will run for more than three months and arrive at the opening ceremony in Los Angeles on July 14, 2028. Working backward, that points to a start in roughly April 2028. What nobody can tell you yet is where in your state it goes.
What Is Confirmed, and What Is Not
Confirmed by LA28 as of September 29, 2026:
- All 50 states. The first full-map relay in Olympic history.
- It starts in Atlanta in spring 2028, after the flame is lit in Olympia, Greece. (The announcement.)
- More than three months on the road, ending at the opening ceremony on July 14, 2028.
- Cities are already being invited. Fresno's city council went public with an invitation letter from Hoover and a participation agreement that would create a local task force to help pick the route and torchbearers in its area. That is the clearest look yet at how 2028 stops will actually get chosen.
Not confirmed: the start date, the route, the order of states, the stop cities, the torch design, the number of torchbearers, and the details of the public nomination process. LA28 says the full route comes in 2027. Anyone telling you the torch is definitely coming through a specific town is ahead of the facts.
How Relays Have Picked Their Stops Before
Past American relays followed a recognizable playbook inside each state: the capital, the best-known landmark, a run of small towns along the corridors in between, and detours for schools, main streets, and hometown heroes. Atlanta 1996 turned that playbook into a promise. Its organizing committee said 90 percent of Americans would be within a two-hour drive of the flame, across a route of more than 16,000 miles that moved by foot, bicycle, boat, and train.
A 50-state route makes that kind of reach the starting point, not the stretch goal. And the Fresno agreement suggests the mechanism: LA28 sets the national frame, and local task forces shape the street-level mile.
My guess, if 2028 follows precedent: your state capital, your state's most photographed landmark, and a chain of towns along the interstates between them. I don't know which towns, and nobody outside LA28 does either. I keep my running guesses in the route speculation breakdown and the start city rumors, ranked.
How to See It, and How to Carry It
Seeing it is the easy part. Once the route is announced, cities publish street-level timing, and past relays have drawn crowds simply by posting where the flame would pass at 7:40 on a Tuesday morning. Plan for one early morning or one evening. That is usually all it takes.
Carrying it takes preparation, and now is the time. Selection has not opened. Based on recent Games, expect public applications and sponsor nomination programs in 2027. The full playbook, including what past selection essays rewarded, is in How to Become a Torchbearer for the 2028 LA Olympics.
What you can do before applications open:
- Write the story now. Torchbearer selections have always run on short, specific stories about service, resilience, and community. Draft yours, or draft one for someone you love.
- Line up the person who will tell it. Many of the best slots in relay history went to people who were nominated by someone else.
- Follow the announcements. Route, torch design, and selection are all expected between now and early 2028, and each one narrows your plan.
Common Questions
When will the 2028 torch relay route be announced?
Not announced. Recent Games published routes and torchbearer programs roughly a year out, which points to 2027. Treat any current map you see online as fan fiction.
Can my town do anything to become a stop?
The Fresno example shows cities signing participation agreements with LA28. If you want the flame on your main street, your city government is the door to knock on.
Will the flame really reach my state, even the far corners?
All 50 states is confirmed. How deep the route goes into each state is not, which is exactly why the 1996 promise of two-hour reach is the benchmark to watch.
Every State Means Your State
I'm a runner from Santa Monica trying to carry this flame for one mile. What I like most about the 50-state decision is that the flame will be on roads most of us have actually driven. If you'd back me, add your name here. Every confirmed fact is in the 50-state relay explainer.
