If each edition of Olympic Games A historic sporting event in itself, there are certain moments from each edition that remain in the collective Olympic ideology. Beyond what happens at each sporting event, one of these is common to all editions: the lighting of the Olympic cauldron.
This is an almost century-old tradition. If the first Olympic Games of the Modern Era were held in Athens in 1896, The first Olympic cauldron was lit in Amsterdam 1928. It was there that the tradition of the classic Olympic Games was recovered. Then, the Olympic flame symbolizes the purity of the worship of the gods, a mystery that got in the Dutch lands to stay.
The Olympic flame illuminates each host city of the Games from the beginning and to the end of each Olympic event. The extinguishing of the flame symbolizes the end of the event of the five rings and its lighting is the biggest secret of every organizing committee because it is the moment that is often remembered in every Olympic event. As it shows, ten lighting of the pot that marked Olympic history.
The selection can be found from Los Angeles 1984 onwards because the complexity of fire lighting was less in the middle decades of the 20th century. Barcelona 1992 was the edition that marked the before and after to leave continuous examples of originality since then in the moments that are part of Olympism.
Images: 1 (MD file); 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10 (Getty)
1
Barcelona 1992
One of the most iconic moments in the history of the Olympic Games took place at the opening ceremony of Barcelona 1992. The Olympic torch carried by Epi on the arrow of Antonio Rebollo and his accurate shot at the cauldron of the Estadi Olímpic definitely -star in the most wonderful. remembered.
2
Sydney 2000
Sydney 2000 left another incredible lighting of the cauldron. On a surface filled with water, a magnificent cauldron rose from the ground. It caught fire as the water fell around it to rise towards a previously built structure. It was raised to create a spectacular scene and show the Olympic flame to the world.
3
London 2012
A strange structure took over the London Olympic Stadium in the summer of 2012. It was formed by a kind of branches on the ground, which gave rise to a circle with some inner circumference. Some people lit some of those branches, which rose up to cause several circles of fire. In turn, they all rose to create a spectacular Olympic cauldron that began the Games.
4
Beijing 2008
The Beijing 2008 organization built the cauldron on top of a spectacular tower in the Olympic Stadium. To reach the structure, he did not hesitate to levitate his gymnastics legend Li Ning (above in the image, small in the white circle) around the stadium. He toured ‘El Nido’ from one side to the other above the audience until he lit the Olympic flame and signed another start to the legendary Games.
5
Rio de Janeiro 2016
Vanderlei de Lima, an Olympic legend, is a major figure in his country after he became the last bearer of the Olympic torch. He placed it in a giant ball, but open at the top, which, after receiving the Olympic flame, rose to the top of the Maracaná. The cauldron comes in a circular structure filled with hundreds of reflective spheres emanating from various branches. It is a structure that represents the sun that changed its shape and began to rotate on itself under the action of the Olympic fire.
6
Athens 2004
A very wide staircase led the last bearer of the flame to the upper part of the Olympic Stadium. Leaning against it is a structure built by Santiago Calatrava in the shape of an obelisk that descends to receive the Olympic flame after leaning against its support. Once lit, the cauldron gradually rose until it was placed upright to illuminate the city of Athens.
7
Atlanta 1996
It was one of the most emotional lightings in Olympic history because the man in charge of performing it was a legend like Muhammad Ali. It received the Olympic fire at the top of the side of the Olympic Stadium and ignited a very small structure that rose from the lower part of the ground. It began to rise gradually, as if it were a wildfire suspended in the air, and advanced towards crowning the meters that separated it from a red cauldron that lit up the city of Atlanta.
8
Seoul in 1988
A circular structure raised the four Olympic torch bearers. He raised them in a cauldron high above the Olympic Stadium that saw the Olympic flame. Seoul left one of the most memorable anecdotes in a lighting, because at that moment there were many pigeons in the structure of the pot, which caused the cameras to quickly change the shot to a general view of the stadium .
9
Tokyo 2021
Tennis player Naomi Osaka was the last to receive the Olympic fire. He climbed some stairs of a structure built specifically to house the cauldron and lit the inside of a white ball which, after receiving the heat of the fire, changed color to orange and opened into the shape of a flower. Perhaps it is a less complicated lighting, but one with a lot of symbolism because it wants to show hope during the coronavirus pandemic.
10
Los Angeles 1984
Rafer Johnson, gold in the decathlon in Rome 1960 and silver in Melbourne 1956, climbs the stairs to a high arch in the Olympic Stadium in Los Angeles. These stairs were extended at that time with additional ones to allow you to reach the bottom of the Olympic rings located in the arch. Johnson approached the Olympic flame to a structure that allowed the rings to be lit and continued to the top to a sort of chimney located at the top of the arch. Hoops and pots lit up Los Angeles at the same time.
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Source: La Verdad
I’m Jason Root, a professional writer working with Today Times Live, the premier news website. I specialize in sports writing, covering the biggest stories in the world of athletics. With an eye for detail and a passion for storytelling, I provide engaging and informative articles that capture the key elements of any event or issue. My work has been featured on numerous respected websites and publications around the world.
