Atlanta will be the first stop in the United States for the Olympic flame after it arrives from Greece ahead of the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games, officials announced on Tuesday (September 29).
"As Los Angeles prepares for 2028, Atlanta will have the honor of being the first stop in the United States for the Olympic flame coming from Greece," Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens said.
"Atlanta will be ready," Dickens added.
READ: LA28 Olympics torch relay to visit all 50 states
LA28 Chief Athlete Officer and Olympic swimming champion Janet Evans said the relay would travel through all 50 states.
"It's going to do something that no American relay has ever done. It's going to touch all 50 states. It will pass through big cities and small towns, and most importantly, in the hands of everyday people who show up for their communities," she said.
Lonnie Ali, wife of late boxing champion Muhammad Ali, said, "Muhammad used to say, 'If my mind can conceive it and my heart can believe it, then I can achieve it."
"A relay like this asked the whole country to believe that together, Atlanta showed the world what that looks like. I have no doubt it will be that again," Ali added.
LA 28 President Casey Wasserman said more cities and partners would join the effort in the coming months because "a relay this big and this important will belong to the whole country."
(Camera: Jayla Whitfield-Anderson; Production, Writing, and Editing: Alexandra Sarabia)