seven not-so-stupid questions about the Olympic flame

If the damage is visible, it is often only of very short duration. To relight this big Olympic lighter, the relay organizers can boast of using the same fire from Olympia, thanks to emergency lanterns. The latter are in fact directly inspired by miners’ lamps and travel with the flame bearers.

The torch has sometimes been designed for extreme situations: for example, it dived along the Great Barrier Reef in 2000, climbed Everest before the Beijing Games in 2008 and took a trip through the freezing waters of Lake Baikal in ahead of the Sochi Games in 2014. Each time, special versions of the torch were nevertheless used.

Concerning these 2024 Olympics, the Parisian organization ensures that the torch meets strict specifications. “Whatever the weather conditions, the flame must remain litexplains to franceinfo Mathieu Lehanneur, designer and creator of the torch. We worked with catalytic systems, the same as those used by mountaineers who have to heat a meal at 4,000 meters.”

Subject to a battery of tests during its design phase, the object was tested so that it was able to cope with difficult climatic conditions. The fire contained in the object can “withstand winds of 100 km/h”, explains Grégory Murac, deputy director of the Olympic and Paralympic torch relay. However, in the event of a mishap or incident, theThe guardians of the flame accompanying the torchbearers will be responsible for relighting the torch with fire from Olympia contained in small lanterns.

4 Is the torch heavy to carry?

Produced in 2,000 copies, compared to 10,000 for example at the Tokyo Olympic Games, the Olympic torch is light and easy to carry. Its weight was at the heart of its creator’s concerns. “We worked hard to reduce the weight to 1.6 kg”. The thickness of the steel used for the manufacture of this object, 70 cm high, does not exceed 0.7 mm. “We are almost on the thickness of a sheet of paper”precise Mathieu Lehanneur.

Ergonomic tests were carried out to verify that any type of hand can hold it. “When we put the torch in the hands of those who have already carried it, like Tony Estanguet, he explained that it was better balanced than the torch of other editions.” The torches will not, strictly speaking, be passed from hand to hand, but simply placed next to each other to transmit the flame – this passage is also called a “kiss”, as the official website explains.

Over the 200 meters run by each torchbearer during the flame’s journey, the risk of burns is minimal, because the heat is diffused within 10 to 15 centimeters of the upper part of the object. “There is no thermal conduction”adds Grégory Murac. “The handle does not change temperature, not even half a degree”adds Mathieu Lehanneur.

5 Will the flame remain lit all the time until its arrival in Paris?

After the lighting ceremony on Tuesday, the flame will reach Paris without ever going out. Lit in Olympia thanks to the energy of the sun, it will be preserved throughout the journey “in small miner’s lanterns which have special certifications allowing us to fly in particular”, specifies Gégory Murac. The convoy accompanying the torch and the bearers will include several emergency lanterns.

An important safety device has been provided to secure the flame throughout the route. Gendarmes and mobilized police officers will permanently supervise the wearer to avoid any intrusion. The authorities fear that activists will take advantage of the media coverage of the relays to try to extinguish the flame.

In case of emergency, a flame “ultimate emergency”is present in Paris for “be sure and certain that it is indeed the flame of Olympia which will light the cauldron during the opening ceremony on July 26”explains the organization of the relay.

6 Does this tradition really go back to ancient Greece?

This torch relay ceremonial was actually born in Berlin in 1936, during the Games of the 11th Olympiad of the modern era. During the preparation of these Games marked by the imprint of Nazism, Carl Diem, secretary general of the organizing committee, was inspired by an ancient religious ritual practiced in Greece: the torch races. On these occasions, the inhabitants of the cities “honored the gods with lampaddromes, (…) originally consisting of a simple relay from a sacred fire to an altar”says the French National Olympic and Sports Committee (CNOSF).

During the Panathenaea festival, a religious celebration dedicated to the protective goddess of Athens, several teams competed in a relay. “The team arriving first with a torch still burning had the honor of lighting the altar of Prometheus and was rewarded”. Carl Diem’s ​​idea was taken up by Joseph Goebbels, the Minister of Propaganda of the Third Reich, who organized the first Olympic relay in 1936. The flame lit in Olympia then left Greece on July 20 and, after a journey of 10 days and 3,000 kilometers, arrived at the Olympic stadium in Berlin on August 1st.

7 Will we be able to buy an Olympic torch as a souvenir?

For these 2024 Olympics, the committee did not wish to sell the 2,000 torches to the public, nor give them to the torchbearers. “HAS At the end of the relay, the torches will be recovered, reconditioned, and can be sold at cost price to the sponsors of the Relay, partners and stakeholders of the Paris 2024 ecosystem., explains to franceinfo the organization of the relay. The bearers of the flame will not, however, leave empty-handed. “I have drawn an object which will be given to each of the torchbearers”, explains Mathieu Lehanneur, who wishes to keep the surprise effect regarding this gift.

Following the previous Olympic Games, it was entirely possible to reenact the “Olympic cauldron” ceremony at home, in your garden or on your balcony. “During previous editions, the organization offered torchbearers the opportunity to buy their torch, but these sales created not very Olympic situations”relates the creator of the torch.