THE OLYMPIC FLAME

The OLYMPIC FLAME
A flame was lit during the entire event of the Olympics during the ancient Olympic Game known as the Olympic Flame.
A new flame is lit using a parabolic mirror to focus the rays of the Sun at the ancient Olympic Stadium in Olympia, Elis, Greece. The Flame is then transported to the host city where the last runner lights the large Olympic Cauldron by it and this burns throughout the Games. The Flame is extinguished during the closing ceremony. The Olympic Flame was first lit during the opening ceremony of the IX Olympic Games at Amsterdam, Netherlands in 1928.

The first Olympic Torch Relay occurred at the 1936 Berlin Olympic Games.

Venue	Year	Lighting of the Olympic Cauldron by
Berlin	1936	Fritz Schilgen [Athletics]
London	1948	John Mark [Athletics]
Helsinki	1952	Hannes Kolehmainen [Athletics]
Melbourne	1956	Ron Clarke [Athletics]
Rome	1960	Giancarlo Peris [Athletics]
Tokyo	1964	Yoshinori Sakai, student born on 6 Aug 1945, the day Atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima.
Mexico City	1968	Norma Enriqueta Basilio de Sotelo [Athletics]
Munich	1972	Gunter Zahn [Athletics]
Montreal	1976	Sandra Henderson & Stephane Prefontaine, two young athletes aged 15 and 16 years.
Moscow	1980	Sergei Belov [Basketball]
Los Angeles	1984	Rafer Johnson [Decathlon]
Seoul	1988	Chong Son-Man, Kim Won-Tak, Sohn Mi-Chong [Athletics]
Barcelona	1992	Antonio Rebello [Paralympic Archery]
Atlanta	1996	Mohammad Ali [Boxing]
Sydney	2000	Cathy Freeman [Athletics]
Athens	2004	Nikolaos Kaklamanakis [Sailing]
Beijing	2008	Li Ning [Artistic Gymnastics]