Sports: Olympic torch relay

International torch relay which has formed part of the symbolism of the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in modern times, having been carried out since the 1936 Games in Berlin. The tradition of the Olympic flame goes back to ancient Greece; the fire was lit in honour of the goddess Hestia.

In the modern period of the Games, an Olympic flame was lit for the first time at the 1928 Olympic Games in Amsterdam. However, there was no torch relay before the opening ceremony, and nor was the flame lit by a known person.

The Olympic torch relay is still regarded by the public as an invention of the National Socialists (Nazis) and their Olympic organizer Carl Diem. In fact, the torch relay was the idea of ​​the Jewish archaeologist Alfred Schiff from Berlin. The torches were produced by the Krupp armaments company from wood and metal in the shape of an olive tree leaf.

After ignition by a burning mirror in ancient Olympia, the flame was carried over 3,187 km by 3,331 runners, who together formed the relay, from Greece to Berlin in twelve days and eleven nights. The relay began at 12 noon on 20 July 1936 in Olympia. The torch reached Berlin on 1 August 1936 at 11:42 AM. The torch relay appears in Leni Riefenstahl's film Olympia.