Torch relay traditions

Torch relay traditions

Historians suggest the flame was born in a temple erected by the ancient Greeks to honour Hera, powerful queen of the mythological gods. Her shrine stands in the home of the Olympic Games of antiquity, a cypress-shaded archaeological site in Olympia where the first recorded Games was held in 766 B.C.

The ancient Greeks kindled the flame using a skaphia (a type of crucible) which was positioned facing the sun. The sun's rays were concentrated there and set fire to the dry grass.

Use of a parabolic mirror is directly inspired by this ancient ceremony. The high priestess kindles the flame, assisted by vestals who are the only people authorized to enter the sanctuary area. The Flame is then carried to the site of the public ceremony and handed to the first runner. This initial runner first carries the flame to the foot of the monument in which the heart of Baron de Courbertin, the founder of the Modern Olympic Movement, is interred.

From Olympia, the flame is carried across Greece to Athens, and in a ceremony at the Panathenian Stadium, the Flame is handed over to the host committee for the Games that begins the New Olympiad.

Olympia 2 November 1956 : the priestess gives the Olympic torch of the XVI Olympiad to the first runner in the relay. Credit: IOC/Olympic Museum collections