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{{Infobox Olympic torch relay | 2094 | Summer | | logo = Example.svg | caption = Example image | host city = Footown | countries visited = Fooia, Fooland, Republic of Foo | distance = 100,000 km | torch bearers = 9,001 | theme = United by Foo | start date = 10 May 2094 | end date = 15 September 2094 | torch designer = Foo McFoo | number of ...
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 ]
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.
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]
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 ]
Paavo Nurmi entering the Olympic stadium Nurmi lighting the temporary ground-level cauldron. The flame was brought to the Helsinki Olympic Stadium by the Finnish long-distance runner Paavo Nurmi, himself a winner of multiple gold and silver medals at the 1920, 1924 and 1928 Olympics. He used the torch to light a temporary cauldron on the ...
The 1948 Summer Olympics torch relay was run from 17 July until 29 July 1948, prior to the 1948 Summer Olympics, held in London, United Kingdom. The relay was nicknamed the "relay of peace". [ 1 ] It was only the second occasion that a torch relay was held for the Olympics; the first was at the 1936 Summer Olympics .
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 ...