Per tradition, the torch was lit on April 15 in Olympia, Greece, honoring the historical birthplace of the Ancient Olympic Games, which date back to 776 BC. Once lit, 600 torchbearers carried the ...

The Olympic Flame or Olympic Torch is a symbol of the Olympic Games. Commemorating the theft of fire from the Greek god Zeus by Prometheus, its origins lie in ancient Greece, where a fire was kept ...

king of the Greek gods, whose own ruined temple lies close by. The flame is eventually used to light the first runner’s torch — champagne-colored this year for France — and a long relay ...

According to Greek mythology, Hera was the wife of ... when the relayed torch will light the event's Olympic flame. The ceremonial torch lighting and relay first began during the 1936 Berlin ...