The Events Of Tradition: 2012 Summer Olympics

We hope you’re enjoying the events leading up to the 2012 Summer Olympics. In the time of the original games the altar of the sanctuary dedicated to the goddess Hestia maintained a continuous flame. For the ancient Greeks, fire had divine connotations—it was thought to have been stolen from the gods by Prometheus. Therefore, fire was also present at many of the sanctuaries in Olympia, Greece. During the Olympic Games, which honored Zeus, additional fires were lit at his temple and that of his wife, Hera.

Today the modern Olympic flame is ignited at the site where the temple of Hera used to stand. This sacred day (again!) for the London Olympic torch came Thursday, with the usual ceremony in ancient Olympia, lighting the torch from the eternal Olympic flame. The priestesses were in high form.
The torch relay begins in Olympia for every Olympics and winds through Greece before being flown to Great Britain for a relay that covers 8,000 miles of that country. It culminates in lighting the caldron at London’s Olympic stadium at the Opening Ceremony. Spyros Gianniotis, a Greek world champion swimmer, was the first torch bearer in Olympia.

An average of 115 Torchbearers a day will carry the Olympic Flame during its 8,000 mile journey around the UK before it arrives at the Olympic Stadium on 27 July 2012 for the lighting of the cauldron at the Opening Ceremony, signifying the official start of the London 2012 Olympic Games.
And we just can’t wait! Have you picked out your favorite athletes yet? Tell us in the comments…