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Torch Relays
The torch relay started out as a religious ritual, but later on became a
race or contest of minor importance for young men, teenagers, and boys,
held by night. Later, it became one of the most popular team events. There
were torch relays in various different regions of Greece – Delphi, Samos,
Thrace, Epidavros, Attica. They mostly dedicated to Hephaestus, Artemis,
Athena and Prometheus. The torch, the Flame, and all the other historic,
festive and symbolic trappings, were introduced in 1896, in Greece, as
part of the cultural programmed for the Olympic Games.
The 1896 Torch Relay was held on the seventh day of the Games, on Athena's
Street, at nine in the evening, accompanied by music. The people taking
part in the event were of all ages and callings: riders, public security
forces, university students, schoolchildren and representatives of
professional associations.
Both the ceremony of the Lighting of the Olympic flame and the torch relay
were established at Berlin, in 1936.
The Lighting of the Olympic flame
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The Lighting of the
Olympic flame takes place inside the Sanctuary of Olympia. The fire is
lighted from the sun’s rays focused on a concave metal mirror. The
High Priestess hands the flame to the first torchbearer by the de
Coubertin monument. |
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There was no torch relay before the ancient
Olympic Games, but, however, an altar to the goddess Hestia existed, with
a sacred flame kindled by sunrays. Maria Hors, a leading figure in Greek
dance theatre, has been responsible for the lighting ceremony, for the
past forty years. |
Sacred flame unites the world
Athens 2004 organizers announce global Olympic torch relay reaching for
the first time all five continents. The sacred flame of the Olympic Games
will travel far wider than ever before next year, following a route
through 27 countries and 34 cities before it lights the cauldron at the
official opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in Athens on August 13.
Traveling at an average rate of 48km per day, the flame will be carried by
over 3,600 torchbearers, while planes, ships, cars, bicycles and even
wheelchairs will be enlisted in a journey passing, for the first time,
through all former Summer Olympic host cities and all land mass
represented by the rings of the Olympic Games logo - The Americas, Europe,
Africa, Asia and Oceania.
The torch relay was originally introduced before the Berlin Olympics in
1936 under the direction of Nazi-sponsored Olympic official Carl Diem.
Next year's torch relay will cover a distance of more than 77,000 km
crossing through 37 time zones, including Istanbul and Cape Town. It is
expected to be watched by 260 million people as it promotes the message of
"the flame that unites the world."
"The ancient and modern symbolisms of the flame - the values of peace,
truce, security, brotherhood, cooperation - are more relevant today than
ever," Gianna Angelopoulos-Daskalaki, head of the Athens Organizing
Committee, said during the torch relay route announcement ceremony on
November 26.
Ancient setting, double meaning.
Lovers of antiquity couldn’t ask for a
more ideal setting for the torch lighting ceremony scheduled on March 25:
at the original site of the games in ancient Olympia , southwestern
Greece, and according to the modern-day ritual, young women clad as Zeus
priestesses will summon the divine light of Apollo while the torch is lit
from reflected rays of sunlight in a concave mirror.
Carrying a double meaning for Greeks, the date of the torch lighting
ceremony marks the start of the first modern Olympics in 1896 in Athens as
well as the outbreak of the Greek Independence War in 1821 which led to
the birth of the modern Greek state six years later. Indeed, authorities
are considering a proposal to push the annual celebrations – school and
military parades – marking the revolution, to March 26.
As to the Olympic flame, it will burn outside the all-marble Athens
Kallimarmaron stadium , the site of first modern Olympics, on March 31
after first having traveled to the ancient Greek temple of Aphaia on the
island of Aegina off the coast of Attica. It will remain there until it
begins its journey to the farthest reaches of the globe on June 4.
Australian Olympic Gold medalist Kathy Freeman will be the first non-Greek
to carry the torch when it arrives at its first port of call in Sydney on
June 4. The 400-metre gold medalist lit the cauldron at the Sydney opening
ceremony in 2000.
Stressing the relay’s global significance, Angelopoulos said it belongs to
all cultures. “This torch relay is the torch relay of all cultures,” she
said on November 26.
Each torchbearer will run 400 meters as the relay will move at a pace of
60km per day over a five-month period. 2,500km of the journey will be made
on foot. International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Jacques Rogge is
scheduled to also carry the flame on the leg past the IOC building in
Lausanne, Switzerland. “I hope at my age I will be able to run 400 meters.
It will be a great achievement,” Rogge said.
Give peace a chance
Greek Foreign Minister George Papandreou , a fervent international
campaigner for world peace during the Games said the relay is a chance to
spread the message of peace across the world through the Olympic Truce .
“In our times, sports cannot impose peace. But it can inspire it,”
Papandreou said.
“If we can achieve peace for 16 days, perhaps one day we can achieve it
forever,” he added. “We ask from everyone to become ambassadors of the
Olympic truce.” It is reminded that the Ancient Greek tradition stipulated
a cessation of war during the Games.
Back to the torch, the flame will round off its trip in Nicosia, Cyprus on
July 9, before returning to Greece, where it will travel to 174 cities and
villages. Its itinerary will also include 24 monuments of historical
importance and as many islands as possible. Daskalaki said destinations on
the Greek leg of the trip were chosen on the basis of their historical and
cultural identity, geographic location, hotel infrastructure and the
interest they hold as tourist attractions. “Through the relay we can all
become the torchbearers of the Olympic truce,” Papandreou underlined.
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In 2004 the Olympic Games return to the place where they were born, where they
were revived and where they will be renewed. The ATHENS 2004 Olympic Games are
more than an opportunity to participate in the greatest celebration of humanity.
They are an opportunity to be part of a story that is as old as history itself.
And when it comes to making history, there is really no place like home.
The emblem of the ATHENS 2004
Olympic Games is a circular wreath made of a branch from an olive tree. The
Olive tree is one of the most powerful symbols of Greece. It has been a
sacred tree for Mediterranean nations for thousands of years, as well as the
ancient symbol of the Athenian City State. It has left an indelible mark in
Greece’s mythology and art. The olive branch is also a global symbol of
peace and freedom.
