More than half of Australia's Olympic torch relay team is to be chosen by popular acclaim with nominations now open for the 135 runners to be chosen by the community.

The flame is to be lit at Olympia, in Greece, in late May with Australia its second stopover.

A total of 250 Australians will run with the Olympic torch in Sydney and Melbourne ahead of the Athens Games in August.

The flame arrives in Sydney on June 4, where a series of runners will visit venues associated with the 2000 Games and iconic sites such as the Harbour Bridge and Opera House.

The following day Melbourne will host the torch, which will pass through sites linked to the 1956 Games, such as the MCG.

Shooter Russell Mark said for him the honour of being chosen to carry the torch in 2000 was tempered by the concern he was out of condition for the standard 500-metre jog with the flame.

"I was born and bred in Ballarat, so I said I'd like to do it up there," he said.

"But it's a pretty hilly town Ballarat, so I said just give me a flat piece ... I'm a shooter, I'm not a rower, I'm not a swimmer, I don't really run that much, so I requested just a nice easy bit," he joked on Monday.

Australian Olympic Committee secretary-general Bob Elphinston said the flame would pass through 35 cities during its global circuit, taking in all the venues which have hosted the Summer Olympics in the modern era.

In Melbourne, organisers hope to assemble all 76 surviving Olympians from the 1956 Games and have them carry the flame across the city by tram.

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