1. Olympic Flame

2. 1. The beginning of the Olympics

3. Every four years the world watches the Olympic Games, which start when somebody from the host country carries a torch into the stadium and lights the flame in the opening ceremony.

4. The flame continues to burn through the games until it is extinguished in the closing ceremony.

5. 2. The history of the flame

6. This is a tradition that started in ancient Greece, when a fire burnt throughout the ancient Olympics, but it wasn’t introduced to the modern games until 1928.

7. In 1936 Carl Diem, a German sports official, came up with the idea of an Olympic torch relay for the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin.

8. 3. Lighting the torch

9. The Olympic torch is lit many months the opening ceremony at Olympia, the site of the ancient Olympics Greece.

10. Eleven women take part and one of them lights the torch from the sun using a special mirror.

11. After this there is a ceremony in the Athenian Panathinaiko Stadium where the Athens city authorities deliver the torch to the officials of the host city.

12. 4. Carrying the torch

13. Traditionally, runners, including athletes, celebrities and ordinary people carry the torch on a journey from Athens to the host city.

14. 5. The end of the journey

15. The relay ends when the torch arrives at the Olympic stadium where the Games will take place.

16. The final carrier of the torch is often kept secret until the last moment, and is usually a famous sportsman or woman.

17. They run around the track and towards a huge cauldron, which is usually at the top of a staircase.

18. They use the torch to light the Olympic flame.

19. 6. The symbolic meaning of the flame

20. Originally the flame represented the 'endeavour for protection and struggle for victory'.

21. Since it was introduced again in 1928, it has come to represent the ‘light of spirit, knowledge, and life‘.