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The history of the Olympic flame, torch, relay. History of the Olympic flame

The tradition of lighting the Olympic flame existed in ancient Greece during the ancient Olympic Games. The Olympic fire served as a reminder of the feat of Prometheus, who, according to legend, stole fire from Zeus and gave it to people.

The tradition was revived in 1928 and is still preserved. During the 1936 Olympic Games held in Berlin, the Olympic torch relay was held for the first time. More than 3000 runners participated in the delivery of the torch from Olympia to Berlin.

At the Winter Olympics, the fire was lit in 1936 and in 1948, but the relay was first held in 1952 before the Olympic Games in Oslo, however, it did not originate in Olympia, but in Morgendal.

Usually, a famous person, most often an athlete, is trusted to light the fire, although there are exceptions. It is considered a great honor to be chosen to host this ceremony.

Relay race

Currently, the Olympic flame is lit in Olympia (Greece), a few months before the opening of the games. Eleven women, mostly actresses posing as priestesses, perform a ceremony in which one of them lights a fire using a parabolic mirror to focus the sun's rays. Then this fire is delivered to the city hosting the Olympic Games.

Usually, a torch is used, which is carried by runners, betraying it to each other in a relay race, but other methods of transportation have been used at different times.

Surprises have already begun 1952. The organizers of the Winter Games decided to abandon the traditional idea of lighting the Olympic flame. The source of the fire was a fireplace in the house-museum of Norwegian skiing pioneer Sandre Norheim. The entire relay race was done on skis. In the same year, the fire of the Summer Olympics in Helsinki flew part of the way (from Greece to Switzerland) by plane. Also, in Finland, it was mixed with flames lit from the non-setting polar Sun.

IN 1964 The Olympic torch relay was very short. The fire was delivered by plane from Athens to Vienna, and from there Innsbruck.

The torch relay of the Olympics in Mexico City repeated for the most part the journey of Christopher Columbus.

IN 1976 in order to move from America to Europe, part of the flame energy was converted into a laser beam, which was sent via satellite to Ottawa, where the relay race continued.

IN 1992 the fire was lit by a burning arrow fired from a bow by Paralympian Antonio Robollo.

IN 2000 in Sydney, the Olympic flame even managed to stay under water for about three minutes.

Olympic Flame Lighting Ceremony

The relay race ends at the central stadium of the capital of the Games, at the end of their opening ceremony. The last participant in the relay lights a fire in a bowl installed in the stadium, where it continues to burn until the end of the games.

The organizers of the games are trying to come up with an original way to light the fire in the Olympic bowl and make this event memorable. The details of the ceremony are kept secret until the very last moment. Who will be instructed to light the fire is usually also not reported in advance. As a rule, this is entrusted to a well-known athlete of the host country of the Olympics.

Methods for transporting the Olympic flame since 1952

In 1952, the fire was brought to the Winter Games in Oslo on skis.

In 1952, at the Summer Games in Helsinki - by plane.

In 1956, at the Summer Games in Stockholm - on horseback.

In 1968, at the Summer Games in Mexico City - on a ship, boat, water skiing.

In 1972, at the Summer Games in Munich - on a motorcycle.

In 1976, at the Summer Games in Montreal - using a laser beam.

In 1984, at the Summer Games in Los Angeles - by helicopter.

In 1988 at the Winter Games in Calgary - on a snowmobile.

In 1992 at the Winter Games in Albertville - Concorde supersonic aircraft.

In 1992, at the Summer Games in Barcelona - on the frigate Cataluna.

In 1994 at the Winter Games in Lillehammer - on a reindeer team, on a parachute, in a wheelchair.

In 1996 at the Atlanta Summer Games - by canoe, pony express, steamboat, train (LOI)

In 2002, at the Winter Games in Salt Lake City - on a dog sled, horse-drawn sleigh, on a snowmobile.

In 2006, at the Winter Games in Turin - in a Formula 1 car of the Ferrari team, on a Venetian gondola.

The material was prepared on the basis of information from open sources

The Olympic flame is one of the symbols of the Olympic Games. Lights up with the start of the Games and goes out when they end.

The tradition is deeply rooted in ancient Greece, when the Olympic flame served as a reminder of the feat of the titan Prometheus, who, according to legend, stole fire from Zeus and gave it to people.

In modern history, the idea of lighting the Olympic flame from the sun's rays at the Temple of Zeus at Olympia was first proposed by Pierre de Coubertin in 1912. The ancient tradition was revived only at the summer games of 1928 in Amsterdam, when the Olympic flame flared up in a specially designed bowl (in the figure) for the first time in the history of modern Olympism over the main stadium of the Olympics.

Olympic torch relay was first held before the opening of the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin. It is believed that the author of the idea was a professor and sports functionary Carl Diem. Under Hitler, he was appointed general secretary of the preparatory committee for the 1936 Olympics in Berlin. On one of the ancient vases, he discovered a plot depicting ancient Greek athletes with torches in their hands. Dim took this idea as a basis for the implementation of his project. But what they forget or keep silent about is that he received an urgent recommendation on this matter from the "Imperial Ministry of Public Education and Propaganda", which was known, among other things, for organizing torchlight processions throughout Germany. As planned by the organizers, the fire was supposed to connect the Third Reich with Ancient Greece in the minds of the Germans. Then, especially for the Olympic torch relay, the Germans Walter Lemke and Peter Wolf (Walter Lemcke, Peter Wolf) designed first Olympic torch.

The organizers of the 1952 Oslo Olympics decided to hold for the first time winter olympic torch relay. However, it did not originate in Olympia, but in a Norwegian town Morgedal (Morgedal). The source of the fire was a fireplace in the house-museum of the popularizer of skiing Sandre Nordheim. The idea of the Norwegians to further extend this tradition to all winter games did not find support. Only two more times, before the 1960 Winter Games in Squaw Valley and 1994 in Lillehammer, the Olympic torch relay started in Norway. Moreover, before the 1994 games, the Olympic flame for the international part of the relay was lit in Olympia.

Fire lighting ceremony at Olympia(on the Greek peninsula Peloponnese) is strict and verified by time. Girls-actresses, dressed in antique dresses, portray ancient Greek priestesses. The “high priestess” on the ruins of the temple of the goddess Hera says a prayer to the gods Apollo and Zeus with a request to send the sacred Olympic flame to the earth and, kneeling, brings the torch to a parabolic mirror that focuses the rays of the Sun.

The ritual of lighting the Olympic flame in Olympia on the ruins of the temple of the goddess Hera

For this ceremony, a special amphora in the ancient Greek style is also made, on the sides of which are depicted running Hellenic youths. After lighting the torch, the priestess approaches the amphora and lights a fire in it. Before passing the torch to the participants in the Olympic relay, the priestesses must perform a dance. And only after the completion of the dance, from the torch of the priestess, the fire of the torch of the first Olympic torchbearer is lit, which opens the Olympic torch relay to them. This relay, or rather its Greek section, takes eight days and ends in Athens. There, the Olympic flame is handed over to the organizers of the next Olympic Games.

Currently, news about the presentation of another high-tech torch of a bizarre shape or an impressive Olympic torch relay attracts the attention of millions of people on the planet, and the details of the ritual of lighting the Olympic flame in the stadium bowl are the main mystery of the opening ceremonies of the Olympic Games.

It will be held on Sunday, September 29, in Ancient Olympia, after which the relay race will start, which will end in Sochi on February 7, 2014.

The Olympic flame is one of the symbols of the Olympic Games. It is lit in Olympia (Greece) a few months before the opening of the games. The fire is delivered using torches carried by runners, passing it to each other along the baton.

The tradition of lighting the Olympic flame existed in ancient Greece during the ancient Olympic Games. It served as a reminder of the feat of the titan Prometheus, who, according to legend, stole fire from Zeus and gave it to people.

Prometheus showed compassion for people and stole fire from the workshop of the divine blacksmith Hephaestus, which he secretly carried out in the reeds. Together with fire, he took the "wise skill" from Hephaestus and taught people to build houses, ships, hew stone, melt and forge metal, write, count.

As the myths say, Zeus ordered Hephaestus to chain Prometheus to the Caucasian rock, pierced his chest with a spear, and a huge eagle flew every morning to peck the titan's liver, which grows again every day. Prometheus was saved by Hercules.

In 776 BC, athletes began to compete in the ancient Olympic Games. Especially for their opening, the fire was lit and transported to the finish line. The process of delivering the Olympic flame involved maintaining the purity and strength of the natural elements in a continuous state. This was taken care of by 10 Athenian tribes (clan associations), who allocated 40 trained young men for this process. Young people delivered a torch from the altar of Prometheus straight to the Athenian altar. The distance was 2.5 kilometers.

In recent history, the idea of lighting the Olympic flame from the sun's rays at the Temple of Zeus in Olympia and delivering it by torch relay to the Olympic stadium for the opening ceremony of the Games was expressed by Pierre de Coubertin in 1912. In 1928, an employee of the Amsterdam Electricity Company lit the first Olympic flame in the bowl of the Marathon Tower of the Olympic Stadium in Amsterdam, and since then this ritual has been an integral attribute of the modern Olympic Games. In 1952, 1956, 1960 and 1994, the Olympic flame of the Winter Games was lit in the Norwegian village of Morgendal in the fireplace of the house where the founder of Norwegian skiing Sondre Nordheim (1825-1897) lived.

Technologically, the lighting of the Olympic flame took place in the same way as now.

The modern ceremony of lighting the Olympic flame is performed in Olympia by eleven women, portraying priestesses. The actress, dressed as a ceremonial priestess in antique robes, lights the torch in the same way as was done at the Games of Antiquity. It uses a parabolic mirror to focus the sun's rays to a single point thanks to its curved shape. The energy from the sun creates a large amount of heat that ignites the fuel in the torch when the priestess brings it to the center of the mirror.
If there is no sun on the day of the Olympic flame-lighting ceremony, the priestess may light the torch from the fire lit on the sunny day before the ceremony.

The fire is carried in a pot to the altar in the ancient Olympic Stadium, where it lights the torch of the first runner in the relay.

In addition to the main torch, special lamps are also lit from the Olympic flame, designed to store fire in case the main torch (or even the fire at the Games themselves) goes out for one reason or another.

One of the priestesses at the very first Olympic flame lighting ceremony was Maria Horse, a young Greek dancer who subsequently, from the Olympic Games in Tokyo in 1964 to the Olympic Games in Sydney in 2000, was the constant choreographer of the Olympic flame ceremony.

The Olympic flame symbolizes purity, the attempt to improve and the struggle for victory, as well as peace and friendship.

The material was prepared on the basis of information from RIA Novosti and open sources

Once every four years, the Olympic Games are held - the so-called sports competitions, in which the best athletes from around the world participate. Each of them dreams of becoming an Olympic champion and receiving a gold, silver or bronze medal as a reward. Almost 11 thousand athletes from over 200 countries of the world came to the 2016 Olympic competitions in the Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro.

Although these sports are mostly played by adults, some sports, as well as the history of the Olympic Games, can also be very exciting for children. And, probably, both children and adults would be interested to know when the Olympic Games appeared, how they got such a name, and also what types of sports exercises were in the very first competitions. In addition, we will learn how the modern Olympic Games are held, and what their emblem means - five multi-colored rings.

History of the Olympic Games

The birthplace of the Olympic Games is Ancient Greece. The earliest historical records of the ancient Olympic Games were found on Greek marble columns engraved with the date 776 BC. However, it is known that sports in Greece took place much earlier than this date. Therefore, the history of the Olympics has been around for about 2800 years, and this, you see, is quite a lot.

Do you know who, according to history, became one of the first Olympic champions? - This was ordinary cook Korybos from the city of Elis, whose name is still engraved on one of those marble columns.

The history of the Olympic Games is rooted in the ancient city - Olympia, from where the name of this sports festival originated. This settlement is located in a very beautiful place - near Mount Kronos and on the banks of the Alpheus River, and it is here from ancient times to the present day that the ceremony of lighting the torch with the Olympic flame takes place, which is then relayed to the city of the Olympic Games.

You can try to find this place on a world map or in an atlas and at the same time check yourself - can I find Greece first, and then Olympia?

History of the Olympic Games (briefly, in 3 minutes!)

How were the Olympic Games in ancient times?

At first, only local residents took part in sports competitions, but then everyone liked it so much that people from all over Greece and its subordinate cities began to come here, even from the Black Sea itself. People got there as best they could - someone rode a horse, someone had a wagon, but most people went to the holiday on foot. The stadiums were always crowded with spectators - everyone really wanted to see sports competitions with their own eyes.

It is also interesting that in those days when the Olympic competitions were going to be held in Ancient Greece, a truce was declared in all cities and all wars stopped for about a month. For ordinary people, it was a calm peaceful time, when they could take a break from everyday affairs and have fun.

For a whole 10 months, the athletes trained at home, and then for another month in Olympia, where experienced coaches helped them prepare as best as possible for the competition. At the beginning of sports games, everyone took an oath, the participants - that they would compete honestly, and the judges - to judge fairly. Then the competition itself began, which lasted 5 days. The beginning of the Olympic Games was announced with the help of a silver trumpet, which was blown several times, inviting everyone to gather in the stadium.

What sports were at the Olympic Games in ancient times?

These were:

running competitions;
wrestling;
long jump;
javelin and discus throw;
hand-to-hand combat;
chariot racing.

The best athletes were awarded an award - a laurel wreath or an olive branch, the champions solemnly returned to their hometown and were considered respected people until the end of their lives. Banquets were held in their honor, and sculptors made marble statues for them.

Unfortunately, in 394 AD, the Olympic Games were banned by the Roman emperor, who did not like such competitions very much.

Olympic Games today

The first modern Olympic Games were held in 1896, in the parent country of these games - Greece. You can even calculate how long the break was - from 394 to 1896 (it turns out 1502). And now, after so many years in our time, the birth of the Olympic Games became possible thanks to one famous French baron, his name was Pierre de Coubertin.

Pierre de Coubertin- Founder of the modern Olympic Games.

This man really wanted as many people as possible to go in for sports and offered to resume the Olympic Games again. Since then, sports games have been held every four years, with the maximum preservation of the traditions of ancient times. But now the Olympic Games began to be divided into winter and summer, which alternate with each other.

The Olympic Games: history, symbolism, how everything was born and how it came to winter Russia

olympic games pictures

Traditions and symbols of the Olympic Games

Olympic rings

Probably, each of us has seen the emblem of the Olympics - intertwined colored rings. They were chosen for a reason - each of the five rings means one of the continents:

blue ring - a symbol of Europe,
black - African,
red - America,
yellow - Asian,
the green ring is the symbol of Australia.

And the fact that the rings are intertwined with each other means the unity and friendship of people on all these continents, despite the different skin colors.

olympic flag

The white flag with the Olympic emblem was chosen as the official flag of the Olympic Games. White is a symbol of peace during Olympic competitions, just as it was in ancient Greece. At each Olympics, the flag is used at the opening and closing of sports games, and then transferred to the city in which the next Olympics will take place four years later.

olympic fire

Even in ancient times, a tradition arose to light a fire during the Olympic Games, and it has survived to this day. It is very interesting to watch the ceremony of lighting the Olympic flame, it is reminiscent of an ancient Greek theatrical production.

It all starts in Olympia a few months before the start of the competition. For example, the fire for the Brazilian Olympic Games was lit in Greece back in April of this year.

In Greek Olympia, eleven girls gather, dressed in long white dresses, as they used to be in Ancient Greece, then one of them takes a mirror and, with the help of sunlight, lights a specially prepared torch. This is the fire that will burn throughout the entire period of the Olympic competition.

After the torch lights up, it is handed over to one of the best athletes, who will then carry it first through the cities of Greece, and then deliver it to the country in which the Olympic Games will be held. Further, the torch relay passes through the cities of the country and, finally, arrives at the place where sports competitions will be held.

A large bowl is installed in the stadium and a fire is lit in it with the torch that came from distant Greece. The fire in the bowl will burn until all sports are over, then it goes out, and this symbolizes the end of the Olympic Games.

Opening and closing ceremony of the Olympics

It is always a bright and colorful sight. Each country hosting the Olympic Games tries to surpass the previous one in this component, sparing no effort or means. For the production, the latest achievements of science and technology, innovative technologies and developments are used. In addition, a large number of people are involved - volunteers. The most famous people of the country are invited: artists, composers, athletes, etc.

Awarding of winners and prize-winners

When the first Olympic Games were held, the winners received a laurel wreath as a reward. However, modern champions are no longer awarded with laurel wreaths, but with medals: the first place is a gold medal, the second place is a silver one, and the third is a bronze one.

It is very interesting to watch the competitions, but it is even more interesting to see how the champions are awarded. The winners go to a special pedestal with three steps, according to the places taken, they are awarded medals and raise the flags of the countries where these athletes came from.

That's the whole history of the Olympic Games, for children, I think, the above information will be interesting and useful. You can supplement your story with a presentation about the Olympic Games.

Are five rings of different colors, a hymn, an oath, an olive branch. The most impressive in its entertainment was the Olympic flame, which surpasses all previous symbols.

Olympia - the birth of the Olympic flame

The birth of a symbol

This tradition has existed since the times of Ancient Greece, which has successfully survived to this day. According to one ancient Greek mythology, it was believed that Prometheus stole fire from the god Zeus and carried it to Earth, where he transferred the fire to people. For which he was severely punished later. This symbol was founded in honor of Prometheus. At the beginning of the last century, this tradition was renewed. It has been preserved to this day. Now, before each Olympics, the Olympic torch relays are held. For the first time, such a relay race was held in Germany in 1936, when fire in the form of a burning torch was delivered from Olympia itself to the city of Berlin. The Olympic flame is lit in the city that wins the competition to host the Olympic Games. It is lit on the first day of the opening of the Olympics and continues to burn until the very last day.

How fire is born

The lighting of the fire takes place long before the opening of the games - in Olympia. Eleven actresses are involved in this unique spectacular performance. They represent the priestesses. Then a fire is lit. As a rule, a torch is lit, which is then delivered to the city. According to a long-established tradition, the torch is passed from hand to hand by runners. Special lamps are used to prevent the Olympic flame from fading.

After lighting the fire in the homeland of the Olympic Games, it moves towards the city that will host the next Olympic Games. The apotheosis of everything is the lighting of the Olympic torch at the main stadium of the Olympics.

Who is honored

The Olympic flame is always lit by one of the most famous athletes. It has already become a tradition. This tradition is accompanied by a theatrical performance. It is often based on a particularly significant history that is characteristic of the state. For example, at the Tokyo Olympics, the honor of opening this event fell to a student who was born just on the day when Hiroshima was bombed. It became a symbol of the revival of the country of the rising sun after the Second World War. When the games were held in Canada, the Olympic flame was lit by two schoolchildren speaking different languages. By this, the unity of Canada was shown. And the first woman who was lucky enough to open the games by lighting a fire was Mexican Norma Enriqueta Basilio de Sotelo at the 1968 Games in Mexico City.