honeysuckle dreams

It all begins with Fire....

A constantly burning flame was a regular fixture throughout Greece. It usually graced the altars of the Greek gods. At the start of the Olympic Games, the Greeks would ignite a cauldron of flames upon Hera's altar. The flame would burn throughout the Games as a sign of purity, reason, and peace.

For each Olympics, a new flame is started in the ancient Olympic stadium in Olympia, Greece, using a parabolic mirror to focus the rays of the Sun. This flame begins its Olympic Torch Relay by touring Greece. The flame is normally taken to the country where the games will be held, the flame is then carried around the country where the games are to be held using any means of human conveyance. The last runner uses a torch to light the large Olympic torch which burns throughout the games. The flame is extinguished during the closing ceremony. A new Olympic torch is designed for each of the games.

I truly never knew the torch was so significant and held such meaning for each individual Olymipics. After finding this out I did some research at howstuffworks.com to find some more information and it was fascinating.

Several design teams submit proposals to the Olympic Committee for the opportunity to create and build the torch. The team that wins the assignment will design a torch that is both aesthetically pleasing and functional. The first torch used in the modern Olympics (the 1936 Berlin Games) was made of a thin steel rod topped with a circular piece from which the flame rose. It was inscribed with a dedication to the runners.

The look of the modern Olympic torch originated with John Hench, a Disney artist who designed the torch for the 1960 Winter Olympics in Squaw Valley, California. His design provided the basis for all future torches. Since then, designers have tried to create a torch that represents the host country and the theme for that Olympic Games.

A torch can take a year or two to design and build. And once the torch has been built, it must be tested rigorously in all kinds of weather conditions. The torch must then be replicated ... and replicated. It's not just one torch making the journey to the Olympic stadium; it's thousands. Anywhere from 10,000 to 15,000 torches are constructed to accommodate the thousands of runners who carry them through each leg of the Olympic relay. Each runner has the opportunity to purchase his torch at the end of his leg of the relay.

Although torch design and construction vary from year to year, the torch must always contain the same basic elements:

-fuel to create the flame
-a fuel delivery system to get the flame out of the top of the torch
-an aerodynamic design that is both lightweight and safe for the runner to carry

The torch must stay lit the entire length of its journey. It must survive wind, rain, sleet, snow, and a variety of climates (desert, mountain, ocean). The torch must also:
-Be light enough so that it is comfortable for each runner to carry (usually between 3 and 4 pounds)
-Protect the runner from the heat of the flame (as well as from hot debris falling from the flame)
-Carry enough fuel to stay lit for the entire leg (and a bit extra, in case the leg takes longer than anticipated)
-Have a bright flame that is visible even on a sunny day

For fuel, early torches burned everything from gunpowder to olive oil. Some torches used a mixture of hexamine (a mixture of formaldehyde and ammonia) and naphthalene (the hydrogen- and carbon-based substance in mothballs) with an igniting liquid. These substances weren't always the most efficient fuel sources, and they were sometimes dangerous. In the 1956 games, the final torch in the relay was lit by magnesium and aluminum, burning chunks of which fell from the torch and seared the runner's arms. (OMG can you imagine, it must have sucked!!)

The first liquid fuels were introduced at the 1972 Munich games. Torches since that time have carried liquid fuels -- they are stored under pressure as a liquid, but burn as a gas to produce a flame. Liquid fuel is safe for the runner and can be stored in a lightweight canister.

The Olympic torch is lit several months before the start of the actual games. The flame begins its journey at the site of the original Olympic Games -- Olympia, Greece. It is lit, just as it was in ancient times, at the Temple of Hera.
An actress dressed as a ceremonial priestess, in the robes of the ancient Greeks, lights the torch via the same technique used in the original Games. She uses a parabolic mirror to focus light rays from the sun. The parabolic mirror has a curved shape. When it is held toward the sun, the curvature focuses the rays to a single point. The energy from the sun creates a great deal of heat. The priestess holds a torch in the center of the parabolic mirror, and the heat ignites the fuel in the torch, sparking a flame.

If the sun is not shining on the day of the lighting ceremony, the priestess can light the torch with a flame that was lit on a sunny day before the ceremony.

The flame is carried in a fire pot to an altar in the ancient Olympic stadium, where it is used to light the first runner's torch. For the Winter Games, the relay actually begins at the monument to Pierre de Coubertin (the man who founded the modern Olympic games in 1896), which is located near the stadium.

Pretty cool, huh? I never knew there was this amazing and interesting history to it. Here are some more nifty tidbits about the latest torches.

2000 Sydney torch-The architecture of the Sydney Opera House, the blue waters of the Pacific Ocean and the subtle curve of the boomerang inspired the design of the torch. The torch includes three layers which are representative of earth, fire and water.

2002 Salt Lake City torch-The Salt Lake City Olympic torch was made of crystal to resemble icicles. It was designed to represent that year's theme, "Light the fire within." The torch is made of the following key elements: lightweight glass (symbolising winter and ice); old silver (the West, flowing water); very shiny silver (the heart, the speed of the athletes) and copper (fire, passion, the history of Utah). The silver grooves of the torch are evocative of the texture of pure ice. For the first time, the Olympic flame was made to spring up through a frosted glass orifice, thus symbolising the flame which burned within each one of the runners.


2004 Athens torch-The Athens Olympic torch resembles an olive leaf, a symbol of Greece and of peace. Its form was drawn from the leaf’s lines and its harmonious shape. The torch's design was selected to enhance the flame with its upward dynamic shape.

2006 Torino Torch-The style concept behind the design is innovative: it is a modern reinterpretation of the traditional torch made of wood; the flame envelopes the body of the torch, instead of coming out of a hole on top, as has been the case in the past.As for the materials used, the outside shell is made of aluminium; the inside fittings are of steel, copper and techno-polymers, and for the surface finish, a special paint is used that is resistant to high temperatures.


Ok, I guess thats a long enough post....time for me to let you read!

Posted by lilwolf at 5:48 PM