2000 Olympic champion and 2004 Olympian Rulon Gardner (Cascade, Colo./Sunkist Kids) is one of the select torchbearers for the ATHENS 2004 Olympic Torch Relay in the United States.    Gardner is scheduled to carry the torch in Atlanta, Ga. on Friday, June 18. Gardner will be there as a participant in the Titan Games competition on June 19-20.    Gardner will carry the torch at about 8:54 p.m. in Centennial Olympic Park, one of the final torch carriers of the day.    The Olympic flame travelled to Los Angeles, the site of the 1932 and 1984 Olympic Games from Mexico City, Mexico, the site of the 1968 Olympic Games on June 16. Yesterday, June 17, the flame is in St. Louis, Mo., the host of the 1904 Olympic Games. On June 18, the relay will proceed to Atlanta, Ga., the site of the 1996 Centennial Olympic Games. The U.S. portion of the International Torch Relay will wrap up in New York City, the home of the United Nations, on June 19.    Gardner won a gold medal at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia, competing at 120 kg/286 lbs. in men's Greco-Roman wrestling. He beat previously unbeaten Alexander Kareline of Russia in the finals, one of the biggest upsets in Olympic history. Kareline competed 15 years without a loss in international wrestling prior to the defeat to Gardner in Sydney. Gardner carried the U.S. flag at the Closing Ceremonies in the Sydney Olympics, and won all the major amateur sports awards that year.    Gardner recently earned a spot on the 2004 U.S. Olympic Team by capturing his weight class at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials - Wrestling in Indianpolis, Ind., May 21-23. He defeated 2002 World Champion Dremiel Byers in the championship series there.    The ATHENS 2004 Olympic Torch Relay presented by Coca-Cola and Samsung enters the U.S. just over a third of the way through the international route of the first-ever global Olympic Torch Relay. The Olympic flame was lit on March 25, 2004 in a traditional ceremony in Ancient Olympia, Greece. Following the lighting, the flame made its way to the Panathinaiko Stadium in Athens, the site of the 1896 Olympic Games, the first of the modern era. The flame remained in the Panathinaiko Stadium in Athens until June 2 when it began its historic worldwide relay. The international portion of the ATHENS 2004 Olympic Torch Relay began on June 4 in Sydney, Australia. The flame is travelling from city to city by chartered aircraft.    The Olympic torch will be relayed for approximately 30-35 miles throughout each city before arriving for a culminating city celebration of the ATHENS 2004 Olympic Torch Relay. Following the city celebration, the Olympic flame will be flown to the next city.    The relay will take the flame to each continent that is represented by the five Olympic rings, and will, for the first time, visit the continents of Africa and South America. Over 35 days the torch will visit 34 cities in 27 countries worldwide, including Greece. The international portion of the ATHENS 2004 Olympic Torch Relay ends on July 8 in Nicosia, Cyprus. The Olympic flame will return to its native Greece on July 9 with Heraklio as its first stop. The relay will travel throughout Greece winding up in Athens on August 13 for the Opening Ceremony of the 2004 Olympic Games.    Gardner is in select company, as some of America's greatest Olympians will carry the flame in the USA on its historic journey including Bonnie Blair (Delafield, Wis.), Gail Devers (Loganville, Ga.), Janet Evans (Irvine, Calif.), Rafer Johnson (Sherman Oaks, Calif.), Jackie Joyner Kersee (St. Louis, Mo.), Shannon Miller (Grafton, Mass.), Peter Vidmar (Coto de Caza, Calif.) and Bonny Warner (Byron, Calif.), among many other notable athletes.    All the torchbearers are tied together by a common thread in that they exhibit characteristics that exemplify the Olympic ideals. They represent the best of humanity in their city, country and world.    With more than 3,600 runners from the international community and nearly 7,000 within Greece, there will be more than 10,000 torchbearers who carry the Olympic flame in the ATHENS 2004 Olympic Torch Relay. Approximately 480 torchbearers are expected to take part in the American portion of this historic event.    Being selected as a torchbearer for the ATHENS 2004 Olympic Torch Relay is a tremendous honor. The theme for the torch relay is "Pass the Flame, Unite the World." The Athens Organizing Committee for the 2004 Olympic Games established criteria that all torchbearers 'represent the best of humanity' and that selection programs include some form of public participation. Torchbearers selected reflect the values of the Olympic Games and are people who unite their communities through sport, education or culture. They also inspire others through participation, celebration, human scale and heritage.    ATHENS 2004 Olympic Torch Relay Facts at a Glance    The 2004 Olympic Torch Relay began on 25-March after the Olympic flame was lit by the rays of the sun in a traditional ceremony held ancient Olympia, Greece, site of the first Olympic Games in 776 BC.     After departing ancient Olympia, it traveled for 7 days through the Peloponnese, the islands of the Saronic Gulf, and finally to the Panathinaiko stadium in Athens, the stadium which hosted the first modern Olympic Games in 1896. There the flame will remain lit in a cauldron until the international portion of its journey begins on 3-July.    When the international portion is complete, on 9-July, the flame will return again to Greece and travel throughout the country before igniting the cauldron at the Opening Ceremony of the ATHENS 2004 Olympic Games.    International Relay    · The ATHENS 2004 Olympic Torch Relay will travel throughout Greece and around world. The international portion of the relay will span 35 days visiting 34 cities (including ancient Olympia) in 27 countries (including Greece).    · The ATHENS 2004 Olympic Torch Relay has several "firsts" including:    · The first truly global Olympic Torch Relay  · The first time the Olympic flame will visit all host cities of the Olympic Summer Games (including Beijing 2008)  · The first time the Olympic flame will visit Africa (Cairo, Egypt and Cape Town, South Africa)  · The first time the Olympic flame will visit South America (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil)  · The first time the Olympic flame will visit all five land masses represented by the Olympic rings     · The Olympic flame is ignited by the sun's rays in a traditional ceremony in Olympia, Greece, and is kept in a lantern that travels with the relay. A torch is lit from the flame every morning to start that day's relay. The Olympic flame is passed from torch to torch. The lantern is closely guarded to ensure that the flame is never extinguished.    · More than 3,600 torchbearers will pass the Olympic flame during the international route for the ATHENS 2004 Olympic Torch Relay.    · The ATHENS 2004 Olympic Torch Relay will travel more than 1,500 kilometres by torchbearer.    · The ATHENS 2004 Olympic Torch Relay will travel more than 78,000 kilometres by air.    · Each torchbearer will carry the flame approximately 400 metres or approximately one lap around a track.    · The Olympic flame will travel an average of 48 kilometres per day.    · The Olympic flame will travel via torchbearers, automobile, airplane, boat, bicycle, wheelchair and motorcycle.    · The Olympic flame will stop at the end of each day for a city celebration. Details of this celebration will be announced by local cities soon.     The International ATHENS 2004 Olympic Torch Relay will:  · Change time zones 37 times  · Use 20 local currencies  · Utilize 19 languages    · More than 264 million people reside in the 34 cities and surrounding areas where the Olympic flame will pass.    · More than 3.8 billion people reside in the 27 countries on the Relay.    · The ATHENS 2004 Olympic Torch Relay is made possible through the generous support of presenting sponsors, The Coca-Cola Company and Samsung.    While in Greece:    · The torch was lit March 25, 2004 (the date that corresponds to the opening ceremony of Athens Olympic Games in 1896 and Greek independence