IOC chief Jacques Rogge unveiled the 2004 Olympic torch on Wednesday as he completed a three-day visit to check on preparations for next year's sporting extravaganza.

The unveiling of the torch, featuring an oval design inspired by the leaf of an olive tree, capped a successful start to the year for Athens organisers, coming a day after Rogge saluted "outstanding" progress over the last 18 months.

"If I can describe it (the progress) I would describe it like a Greek syrtaki dance. It starts very slowly, it accelerates and by the end you can't keep up with the pace," he said.

Only two years ago the IOC had threatened to relocate the Games after serious delays to key venue construction and infrastructure projects.

Athens organisers have leant heavily on the peaceful symbolism of the olive tree which is commonplace in the Greek countryside. Wreaths made from olive tree leaves were awarded to winners in the ancient Olympics.

POWERFUL SYMBOL

"We were inspired by the way this torch will reflect the spirit of Greece along with the values of peace and hope to every place it will travel," said Athens Organising Committee chief Gianna Angelopoulos.

The metal and olive-wood creation, which will be the first to pass through all five continents, was chosen to highlight the link between Greek history and the modern Olympic Games, said officials.

"The torch relay has become a very powerful symbol of the peaceful uniting of countries," said Rogge.

But the Olympic torch, which has become an integral part of the build-up to modern Games and one of the best-known sporting symbols in the world has not always enjoyed peaceful associations.

The idea of a relay of torch bearers was introduced 40 years after the revival of the Olympics in Athens, at the Nazi-organised Berlin Games of 1936 in an attempt to add grandeur to Adolf Hitler's celebration of the Arian body and soul.

The Berlin torch, which remains one of the most impressive, was made with steel from the Krupps munitions factory, central to the Hitler's war machine.

Athens's smooth oval form and simple design replaces Sydney's colourful metallic boomerang, with its three-arched tribute to the city's world famous opera house.

"The torch had to include as many aspects of Greek culture as possible and the olive tree contains all of Greece," said designer Andreas Varotsos.

Standing at 68cm and weighing 700g, the latest ergonomic model will pass through as many as 20,000 pairs of hands in a convoluted global journey beginning in ancient Olympia and ending a four-hour drive away in Athens.

"Personally I like it a lot and I hope it will be to the tastes of the international public," said Greek culture minister Evangelos Venizelos.