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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.
The torch resembles the shape of the torches which existed in the 19th Century. The continuity of the flame burning was provided by a special content known as "Tipizir 120/140". Thanks to this, the flame was able to burn for 22 hours non-stop. 61 22.0 1968: Grenoble, France: The torch was made from sheet copper that was covered in bronze.
At the 2004 Summer Olympics, when the Olympic flame came to the Panathinaiko Stadium to start the global torch relay, the night was very windy and the torch, lit by Gianna Angelopoulos-Daskalaki of the Athens 2004 Organizing Committee, blew out due to the wind, but was re-lit from the backup flame taken from the original flame lit at Olympia.
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 2002 Winter Olympics torch relay was a 65-day run, from December 4, 2001, until February 8, 2002, prior to the 2002 Winter Olympics. [1] The runners carried the Olympic Flame throughout the United States – following its lighting in Olympia, Greece , to the opening ceremony of the 2002 games at Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City, Utah .
A torch from the relay. The aluminum torch, designed with a brass finish and leather handle that gave it an antique look, was 56.5 centimeters (22.2 in) long and weighed 1,000 grams (35 oz). [1] Etched on the ring of the torch were the words of the Olympic motto ("Citius, Altius, Fortius") with the Olympic rings between each word.
Each of the torches contained a solid fuel tablet made of hexamine and 6% naphthalene (following torch running tests in May 1947) that fuelled the flame itself. [3] The solid fuel increased the distance each runner could run to 2 miles (3.2 km) over flat terrain, decreasing the number of torches needed to be produced, which in turn reduced the cost of the relay.
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 ]