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The Olympic torch relay is the ceremonial relaying of the Olympic flame from Olympia, Greece, to the site of an Olympic Games. It was introduced at the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, as a way for Adolf Hitler to highlight the Nazi claim of Aryan connections of Germany to Greece. [1] It has taken place prior to every Games since.
At the end of the first Olympic torch relay, the Olympic flame arrives in Berlin, 1936. The Olympic torch relay, which transports the Olympic flame from Olympia, Greece to the various designated sites of the Games, had no ancient precedent and was introduced by Carl Diem at the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, Germany. [16]
The 1936 Summer Olympics torch relay was the first of its kind, following on from the reintroduction of the Olympic Flame at the 1928 Games. It pioneered the modern convention of moving the flame via a relay system from Greece to the Olympic venue. Leni Riefenstahl filmed the relay for the award-winning but controversial 1938 film Olympia.
Then, once the Olympic torch arrives at the host country, the 68-day long Olympic torch relay begins. For the 2024 Paris Olympics, the torch relay began in Marseille, roughly eight hours south of ...
The torch relay was not always a fixture of the modern Olympics, which began in 1896. The relay tradition started at Adolph Hitler's 1936 Berlin Olympics — the Games of the XI Olympiad — and ...
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 ...
A torch from the relay at the Olympic Museum in Lausanne, Switzerland. The torch was designed by Disney artist John Hench, who modeled it after the torches used in 1948 and 1956. The International Olympic Committee credits Ralph Lavers, who created the 1948 torch, as co-designing the 1960 torch with Hench. [4]
The 1968 Summer Olympics torch relay took part as part of the build-up to the 1968 Summer Olympics hosted in Mexico City, Mexico. The Olympic flame was lit in Olympia, Greece, and retraced the steps of Christopher Columbus, discoverer of the New World. This theme celebrated the link between Latin-American and Mediterranean civilizations.