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History of the Olympic flame
The flame dates back to the ancient games. Each games would begin with the lighting of the flame.
BBC Torch Relay 2012
* Once lit the flame was taken around ancient Greece. It signalled a truce and peace in any on-going conflicts for the period of the games.
* The flame is still lit in a similar manner. A parabolic mirror reflects the rays of the sun on to the torch.
* The ceremony takes place at Olympia, the site of the ancient games. It takes place on the alter of the goddess Hera.
* The flame commemorates the theft of fire from the Greek god Zeus by Prometheus.
* The flame was first re-introduced to the modern games in 1928.
* The Olympic Torch Relay dates from the 1936 Berlin Games. The flame is lit in a precise ritual in Olympia in Greece. Subsequently, it makes a short journey around Greece before being passed into the hands of the host city.
* Runners called ‘torchbearers’ pass the flame on until it reaches the cauldron at the host’s main Olympic Stadium for the Opening Ceremony.
* The Olympic flame burns until the end of the Games. -
Feature: Olympic torch design
Although harking back to ancient times, the Olympic torch relay is a modern phenomenon which began in 1936.
BBC News: Olympic torch designs
For each Olympic Games, a new torch is designed to carry the flame on a journey to the host city.
Read an article about the history of the torch designs on the BBC website below... -
Torch locations in the West Midlands
From the UK's second city to the city of cathedrals old and new, Coventry.
BBC News: Torch route in the West Midlands
With a visit to Stratford-upon-Avon, birthplace of William Shakespeare and home to the Royal Shakespeare Company.
The bard is being celebrated in 2012's Cultural Olympiad.
Read more about the torch relay locations on the BBC News website below... -
Feature: What is the Olympic torch relay?
From 19 May 2012, the Olympic torch relay will tour the UK in the run-up to the London Games - taking 70 days, carried by 8,000 torchbearers.
BBC News: What is the Olympic torch relay?
Organisers say 95% of the country's population should be within one hour of the route, which ends on 27 July with the lighting of the cauldron during the opening ceremony in the Olympic Stadium, Stratford.
Read the full feature about the torch on the BBC News website below... -
Feature: Coventry factory works 24 hours on torch
A Coventry factory has been operating 24 hours a day to finish a very high-profile order.
BBC News: Coventry factory working 24 hours on torch
Staff at Premier Group are working around the clock to complete an order for 11,150 torches.
The company, which normally makes parts for the automotive and aerospace industries, has taken on 50 extra staff to get the job done.
Read the full feature on the BBC News website below... -
Feature: Coventry and Warwickshire torch relay route
The torch will be taken to Warwick Castle and Kenilworth Castle when it travels through Warwickshire.
BBC News: Coventry and Warwickshire torch relay route revealed
It will also visit Coventry Cathedral and the Ricoh Arena, which will host football matches during the Games.
The torch will also pass through Newbold on Stour, Alderminster, Stratford-upon-Avon, and Royal Leamington Spa and will visit Rugby School and Dunchurch.
Read the full feature on the BBC News website below... -
Torch relay: Derby to Birmingham
From the city which gave British Cycling its performance director Dave Brailsford through the heart of the West Midlands.
BBC Torch Relay 2012: Derby to Birmingham
The torch visits the National Memorial Arboretum, the country's centre for remembrance, founded in the National Forest.
Read more about this section of the route on the BBC News website below... -
Fact file: The Olympic torch
* Designed by Barber Osgerby.
* It is made of an aluminium alloy
8,000 holes in two layers.
* Contains propane-butane burner
80cm tall, 10cm wide at top, 4.5cm wide at base.
* The torch is coated in gold or titanium nitride.
* Eight thousand to be made in the UK.
* The torch will flame from the crown and sides of its top.
Source: BBC News
Credits
- Presenter
- Nick Owen
- Presenter
- Katharine Merry
- Producer
- John Bray
