The Associazione Italia-Tibet, members of the Tibetan Community in Italy and Team Tibet (Italy) hosted
the first visit of the Tibetan Freedom Torch after its launch in Olympia, Greece. The Torch was lit outside the national headquarters of the Italian Olympic Committee. Two athletes from the Italian contingent of Team Tibet held the flame aloft, symbolizing their aspirations to be a part of the Olympics, and we were then able to personally hand over our letter of protest and that of Team Tibet (Italy) to the vice-president of the Italian Olympic Committee.
From the seat of the Olympic Committee, the Freedom Torch was carried by a Tibetan monk to the center of the city, in Piazza Navona. From there a procession with hundreds of demonstrators led by the monk with the torch wound its way past the major monuments of the Eternal City to reach the Roman offices of the United Nations. Tibetans and supporters from over twenty organizations shouted slogans in Italian and English and displayed banners and numerous Tibetan flags.