The Olympic Flame, symbolising the Olympic ideal, has become an integral part of the celebration of the Olympic Games.
The flame is lit in ancient Olympia, Greece and is then transported, by foot where possible, to the site where the next Olympics are held. Each runner carries the torch with the Olympic Flame for a short distance before handing it over to another runner. This relay ends at the day of the opening ceremony in the central stadium of the Games. The final carrier of the torch, usually a sports celebrity of the host country, runs towards the cauldron or urn usually (but not always) at the top of a grand staircase, who then uses the torch to start the flame in the stadium which burns throughout the celebration of the Olympics. It is extinguished at the closing ceremony.
The Olympic Flame in the ancient Olympic Games held in and around Olympia, Greece was lit in honor of the king of the Greek gods, Zeus.
Today, the Olympic torch is ignited (about 10 months) before the opening of its respective Olympic Games, by 11 actors playing priestesses in Olympia by placing it in a concave lens which concentrates rays from the sun; it turn igniting the torch.
The Olympic Flame first burned at the 1928 Summer Olympics in Amsterdam, although there was no torch relay, and the flame was not lit by any specific person.
By an idea of Carl Diem, the torch relay was first held at the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin. Since then, the torch relay and the lighting of the Olympic Flame have been a part of every celebration of the Summer Olympics. The flame for the Winter Olympics was first lighted before the 1952 Winter Olympics. For that occasion, the flame was lit in the house of Sondre Norheim, a Norwegian pioneer of winter sports.
In the 1960 Winter Olympics, John Hench's torch design was introduced, a model used for many years to come.
The people that have lit the Olympic Flame are listed below. As the equestrian events in 1956 were held in Stockholm, there were two flames lit in that year.
History
Lighters
