The torch of the Pan American Games.
Photo: AP
The Flame of America will begin with a prehistoric ritual that will be recreated in the Pyramid of the Moon in Teotihuacan, in the archaeological ruins located 50 kilometers northeast of the Mexican city.
The New Fire was the most important ceremony of the prehistoric towns in Mexico and formed part of the new year ritual and every 52 years in the history of Mesoamerica.
The Organizing Committee of the Guadalajara 2011 Games, the Pan American Athletic Organization, the Mexican Olympic Committee, and representatives from throughout the continent will assist the ceremony.
Once the flame is lit it will be placed under the custody of the MExican Olympic Committee in its headquarters in the Mexican capital, where on Saturday the raquetball player Paola Longoria will be in charge of lighting the first Pan American torch.
The Guadalajara Torch has the shape resembling agave, where tequila is extracted, the most famous Mexican drink originating in the area, ways 1.2 kilograms, is 70 centimeters tall, and has a 12-minute gas tank.
The Mexican Olympic medalist Daniel Aceves, silver in the 1984 Olympic Games, will receive the torch from Longoria to become the first of 3,200 carriers of the torch that will travel all the way to Guadalajara.
In its first day of travel through the Mexican capital, the torch will be carried by 240 different people, among them the director of the National Sports Commission, Bernardo de la Garza and the Chief of Government, Marcelo Ebrard.
The fire of America, "The fire that unites," as is stated in its promotion, will travel for 50 days in 38 Mexican cities with a path that will end on October 14 in Omnilife Stadium in Guadalajara.
In each city the path varies from 20 to 40 kilometers as does the number of carriers.
The organizers have not revealed the name of the last holder of the torch although they have revealed it will be an important Mexican athlete.
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