The Olympic Flame

The OLYMPIC FLAME
The origin of the Olympic Flame dates back to ancient Greece. The ancient Greeks considered fire divine and lit a flame at Olympia where the ancient Olympic Games took place. The flame used to burn throughout the celebrations.

The tradition continues in modern times. 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. It 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, the Netherlands in 1928.

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

2016 Summer Olympics

After completing its Greek phase, which is from Olympia to Athens, the torch relay will head to Brazil where the process would kick-start on May 3, 2016. But before reaching Brazil, the torch relay would also visit Switzerland and Colombia. The Brazilian phase will start from the capital city Brasilia and would finally culminate in Rio de Janeiro. In Brazil, the torch relay would visit more than 300 cities, including all the state capitals and the Federal District.

WBPB

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]
London	2012	Callum Airlie (sailing), Jordan Duckitt, Desiree Henry (sprinter), Katie Kirk (athlete), Cameron MacRitchie (rowing), Aidan Reynolds (Javelin) and Adelle Tracey (athlete)