The Olympic torch traveled thousands of miles from Olympia, Greece. train, plane, ship After carrying the robots for thousands of miles and days, I arrived at this opening ceremony. During this period of carrying, the flame of the Olympic torch was not completely extinguished. It is not easy to put out this fire. Engineers and experts have carefully calculated, prepared, and brought it. Let’s see how the fire was carried out without being completely extinguished.
It all started with the German dictator, Hitler.
Yes. It was Hitler who began to carry the flame of Olympia to the stadium where the opening ceremony of the Olympics was held. There was no such torchbearer in his previous Olympics. When the 1936 Berlin Olympics were held, Hitler, who dreamed of establishing a third German state, wanted to make this Olympics unique. We are thinking about the connection between the famous ancient Greek period and the modern third German state. Therefore, the German Ministry of Sports has been assigned to manage this matter. The Minister of Sports started planning to carry the Olympic torch from the Olympic Stadium in Greece, where the ancient Olympic Games were held, to the Berlin Olympic Stadium.
The first Olympic torch was commissioned by the German giant Krupp. When the Second World War broke out, this company became a manufacturer of rifles for the German Army. The design of this first Olympic torch was simple (see image below). The main thing is to reach Berlin without the Olympic flame lit by Olympia. Since 1936, the main goal of all Olympic torches has been to reach the stadium where the Olympic Games were held without the flame being extinguished. Only the design of the torch changed year after year. This goal has not changed. It has improved year by year.
In carrying this fire for tens of thousands of miles, one by one, the fire does not go out on the way. If it was extinguished, the engineers tried all kinds of ways to get the flame from the original Olympia to reach the big arena where the last games were held. The main thing is that the fire that is lit in the final stadium needs to be a fire that evolved from the flame that was lit by the original Olympia. It is actually not easy to put out this fire. Weather Preparations have been made for the possibility of fires going out on the road and in situations beyond the control of other people.
Burning the Olympic flame with glass
The Olympic flame is lit by gas lighters. It’s not lighting a fire with matches. The Olympic flame is lit by young Greek women dressed as ancient Greek court maidens in the Temple of Hiranat in Olympia, Greece, with a sun-reflecting mirror. This reflector collects the light from the sun in one place. When we were young, it was like burning leaves with a magnifying glass. This is a reference to the tradition of lighting a fire in ancient Greece. The female guardian of the goddess placed the torch in the light gathering place of this mirror and lit it until it ignited. (In the video below, you can see the lighting with the reflector.) This lighting ceremony is always held at the Temple of Hera in Olympia, Greece. Then we take this flame one by one. It is not carried by a lamppost. It is carried from one stick to another by sparking (like sparking a candle).
Greece is a hot country, so lighting a fire with solar reflectors is not a problem. However, if for some reason it is difficult to light the fire on the day of the lighting ceremony (for example, the sun does not rise, it is cloudy, or it is raining), a lamp and a lamp are prepared to light the fire on the day of the full dress ceremony (rehasal) to make it convenient. The point is that the original flame was to be the one lit at Olympia.
Carrying this backup flame is not just for a lighting ceremony. From the primordial flame lit by Olympia, the lamp and lighted fire are carried along with the ceremonial torch. If the fire is extinguished for some reason, it is transferred back to the backup fire. Therefore, even if the fire goes out on the road, the last fire that lights up the stadium is the original Olympic flame.
A lamp only burns for 20 minutes.
Yes. A lamp only burns for 20 minutes. The fuel in the fire pole is small, so it can only hold so much. During these 20 minutes, I had to cross the next lamppost. If, for some reason, we are late on the way, we add more and more fuel to keep the fire from going out. But if you don’t help the fire within these 20 minutes, the fire will go out.
Today’s torches use liquid wick, and if the fire goes out, it can be re-ignited automatically.
At the 1972 Munich Olympics, liquid wick was first used for torches. A kind of liquid fuel added to a gas lighter. This kindling liquid can change the color of the flame to the desired color. In addition, a small flame is carried inside this lamppost, protected from the wind. Therefore, whether it’s raining or fire outside, Even if it is extinguished by the wind or extinguished, it will be rekindled by the original flame inside. It is said that the team that invented this lamp took a sample of it from the shower to the shower and tested it. How much rain? He said that the wind could not extinguish the fire.
The torch that lights the big torch in the final arena is different from the torches carried on the road.
When you finally enter the arena, the flame from the torch needs to be visible to everyone in the arena. That’s why this torch is made to be unique, unlike other torches. In some events, smoke was created to be seen. Some make the flame brighter Or have a unique color.
At the 1956 Olympic Games in Melbourne, Australia, the torch was burned with a mixture of magnesium oil and aluminum in order to produce a good flame. The fire burns very beautifully. However, the athlete carrying the torch went to the hospital with burns on his hand.
Regardless of the difficulties, the flame that was finally lit in the Olympic arena was the flame originally lit in the temple of Hera in Olympia. Engineers have to work hard to make this happen.