Each of the seven lit copper petals that were handed to each team during the athlete's parade, which raised up to form the Thomas Heatherwick-designed cauldron. After emerging from City Hall, where it was last seen by huge crowds at lunchtime, it had sped down the Thames on a boat called Max Power in a sequence shot shortly before it was seen by the 72, spectators in the stadium. It then waited during the athletes' parade for its entrance.
Beckham passed it outside the stadium to Sir Steve Redgrave, the five-time Olympic rowing gold medallist who was instrumental in launching London's bid to host the Games and the choice of British Olympic Association chairman Lord Moynihan. He entered the stadium, flanked by of the construction workers who had helped build it, and passed it to a group of young runners who had been nominated by the legends.
Decathlete Daley Thompson, the double Olympic gold medallist in and and great friend of London chairman Lord Coe, was one. Kelly Holmes, whose feat of winning the m and the m at the Athens Olympics in was one of the greatest sporting achievements of modern British sporting history, was another. The others were nominated by and gold medal-winning sailor Shirley Robertson, Mary Peters, who won gold in the pentathlon 40 years ago in Munich, long jump winner Lynn Davies, and swimming gold medallist Duncan Goodhew.
Over recent months, speculation had intensified as to who would light the cauldron. Betting was suspended by some leading bookmakers on Thursday following a run of bets on Sir Roger Bannister, the first man to run a four-minute mile, who had overtaken the longtime favourite Sir Steve Redgrave. Earlier in the day, International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge — perhaps with tongue lodged in cheek — paid tribute to Britain's "vibrant, strong, vocal" press.
But he said that Lord Coe's organising committee, which took the final decision on the torchbearer only on Wednesday, had won the PR battle. He said he would have preferred a famous Olympian to light the torch, but that it was not a "prerequisite". Boyle was also pleased to have kept the moment a surprise.
The British Olympic Association and Locog chief executive Paul Deighton signed off on the decision, but it was driven by the ceremonies team led by the overall creative director, Stephen Daldry, and Boyle. It's very much from the heart. I hope the show feels gracious, not bombastic," he said.
By the time the big cauldron lighting moment arrived, the crowd were already punch drunk from witnessing James Bond and the Queen jumping from a helicopter, nightmarish visions of childhood characters, a parade of hundreds of NHS nurses accompanied by Mike Oldfield and a spectacular house party featuring the best of British music down the ages. The flame had travelled from Olympia in the Peloponnese, where the ancient Olympic Games were held, after being lit by the rays of the sun on 10 May.
After touring Greece for a week, it was handed over to the London organisers — led by a delegation including London mayor Boris Johnson and Princess Anne — in the Panathenaic stadium in Athens in the pouring rain. At the start, there was nervousness about how it would be received by a country still split on the wisdom of hosting the Games. But the organisers overcame any anxiety about potential protesters and unease about the corporate sponsors who back the relay through the mechanism of giving the majority of places to members of the community who deserved them.
Symbols and rituals give context to the important moments in life. The lighting of the Olympic cauldron is a critical moment of the Olympic Games. Not only does it signify the beginning of the Games, but the lighting of the Olympic cauldron is the most prominent symbolic act that ties the modern Olympics together with the ancient Olympics.
But why does the fire that burns throughout the Games have such a deep-seeded significance to the Olympics? The answer lies in the mythology of ancient Greece. Ancient Greeks considered fire a divine element. As the legend goes, fire was gifted to humans by Prometheus and it was believed to be sacred. As such, ancient Greeks maintained perpetual fires at their temples, including a permanent fire in the sanctuary at Olympia, where the ancient Olympic Games took place.
For the ancient Olympic Games, the torches were lit using the rays of the sun and a skaphia the predecessor of the mirrors used for lighting the Olympic flame today. During the ancient Olympics , a fire was kept burning at a central location throughout the event. For each Olympics since , there has been a torch relay. The relay originates from Olympia and ends in the Olympic stadium of the host city. The flame for torchbearers is ignited in a ceremony at the altar of Hera.
A number of women dressed as ancient priestesses perform a ceremony surrounding the altar. One of the priestesses, dubbed the High-priestess, lights her torch using a parabolic, or concave, mirror.
The ceremonial high priestess then uses her torch to ignite the torch of the first runner officially starting the relay. A Greek actress, serving as the High-priestess, lights in the torch of the initial runner for the Sochi Games. Photo Credit: timesofoman. The torch relay harkens back to the messengers who spread the Olympic truce, according to Olympic. Modern day torch relays also try to promote peace and unity. The participants of the torch relays through the years traditionally have been notable people, many of which former Olympians.
Other torchbearers have received the honor by some combination of accomplishment and fame. The most recent lighting ceremony in Sochi, Russia was an example of a ceremony with predominately traditional elements, starting with the torchbearers.
The torch was brought into Olympic stadium and carried throughout the ceremony by notable Russian Olympians of the past — both summer and winter. The Sochi Olympic cauldron was also of traditional design and location. The design of the cauldron was based upon and inspired by a popular character in Russian fairytales — a Firebird. Designers brought the character to life via the cauldron by way of outstretched wings and a soaring head, crowned by the Olympic flame.
Additionally, keeping in line with other Olympic cauldrons, it was very large in size almost meters or about feet in diameter and situated at a great height nearly 50 meters or about feet. The Sochi cauldron after lighting. Note that it is much more traditional in design than the London cauldron below.
It was also located just outside the Olympic Stadium, more easily visible to those in the Olympic complex than the London cauldron. Photo Credit: Reuters. In fact, for ease of viewing by all fans visiting the Olympic complex during the Games, the cauldron was located just outside of Fisht Olympic Stadium.
The two torchbearers selected to light the cauldron had to exit the stadium to complete the ceremony. In contrast, the location of the cauldron for the London Olympics was a departure from the norm. The cauldron was located within the Olympic Stadium — only visible firsthand to those with tickets to the athletics events, or to the opening and closing ceremonies.
During opening ceremonies the cauldron was located in the middle of the field, but was moved prior to the start of the athletics events so it would not interfere with those competitions. It was the product of an artistic thought process by its designer, Thomas Heatherwick, and opening ceremony organizers. Heatherwick said the location was a nod to the Games and where the cauldron was placed in the old Wembley stadium. A view of the cauldron inside the Olympic Stadium at the conclusion of the opening ceremony.
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