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The Olympic flame is a symbol used in the Olympic movement. It is also a symbol of continuity between ancient and modern games. [ 1 ] The Olympic flame is lit at Olympia, Greece , several months before the Olympic Games .
Since the 1992 Summer Olympics, the climax of an opening ceremony is the arrival of the Olympic flame, as the conclusion of the torch relay: the torch is typically passed a group of final torchbearers—typically reflecting the host nation's most prominent Olympic athletes.
Teddy Riner and Marie-Jose Perec watch as the cauldron rises in a balloon in Paris, France, during the opening ceremony of the 2024 Summer Olympics, Friday, July 26, 2024.
The modern tradition of moving the Olympic flame via a relay system from Greece to the Olympic venue began with the Berlin Games in 1936. Months before the Games are held, the Olympic flame is lit on a torch, with the rays of the Sun concentrated by a parabolic reflector, at the site of the Ancient Olympics in Olympia, Greece. The torch is then ...
Here's what to know on the history of the Olympic orch, the Olympic flame and more heading into 2024 Paris Olympics:
The Paris Games are over, the Olympic flame that hung suspended in a cauldron above the Jardins de Tuileries extinguished, and the Olympic flag handed over to Los Angeles for the 2028 Games.
However, Hench found these torches to be too top-heavy and difficult to carry, and produced a smaller model which has influenced the design of later Olympic torches. [1] [5] The torch bears the inscriptions "VIII Olympic Winter Games 1960" and "Olympia to Squaw Valley", reflecting the canceled plan to light the flame in Greece. [4] [6]
The first well-known major athlete to light the cauldron was nine-time Olympic champion Paavo Nurmi at the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki. Other famous final torch bearers include 1960 decathlon gold medallist Rafer Johnson, who became the first person of African descent to light the cauldron at the 1984 Summer Olympics, [1] French football star Michel Platini (), heavyweight boxing champion ...