South Dakota Getting Olympic Torch Relay For First Time

When the athletes of the world come to Los Angeles to compete in the 2028 Summer Olympic Games, it will be the third time the California city has hosted the event (1932, 1984).

But while hosting the games is nothing new for L.A., the 34th Summer Games will include South Dakota for the first time.

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Never before has the Olympic Torch Relay come to the state, but all that will change two years from now. This week it was confirmed that the 2028 relay will make history by traveling to all 50 states.

No specifics have been released about dates or locations, but based on the official description of the event as 'moving across the nation, passing through iconic and internationally renowned landmarks, stopping at major cultural and sporting events and hosting festival celebrations in select cities nationwide', it seems safe to say that at least one of the stops in South Dakota will be Mount Rushmore.

The plan now is for the Olympic flame to be lit in Olympia, Greece, the birthplace of the Olympic Games, before making its journey through all 50 states in the spring of 2028. The full route for the Olympic Torch Relay will be announced in 2027.

The Los Angeles Summer Olympics run from July 14-30, 2028.

The very first Olympic Torch Relay took place prior to the Berlin Summer Games in Germany in 1936. Over the years, there have been five touch relays on American soil, beginning with the 1960 Winter Games in Squaw Valley, California.

Two of previous relays have visited South Dakota's neighboring states:

1996 Atlanta Summer Games:

• Nebraska (North Platte, Kearney)
• Iowa (Keokuk, Mount Pleasant, Coralville, Cedar Rapids, Vinton, La Porte City, Waterloo, Cedar Falls, Charles City, St. Ansgar)
• Minnesota (Austin, Rochester, Zumbrota, Cannon Falls, Minneapolis, St. Paul, Red Wing, Winona)

2002 Salt Lake City Winter Games:

• Iowa (Council Bluffs)
• Nebraska (Nebraska City, Omaha)
• Wyoming (Sheridan, Kaycee, Casper, Wheatland, Cheyenne)
• Montana (West Yellowstone, Big Sky, Bozeman, Livingston, Big Timber, Columbus, Laurel, Billings)

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