Bloomberg reports:
The torch relay, based on a ceremony held at the ancient games in Greece, was started by the Nazi organizers of the 1936 Olympics.
And here’s the first carrier.
More details here:
The Torch Relay, as the opening of the Olympic celebration, was revived in the Berlin Olympiad in 1936 and since then the Torch Relay has preceded every Olympic Summer Games.
Starting from Olympia and carried by the first runner, the young athlete Konstantinos Kondylis, the Flame traveled for the first time hand to hand until it reached the Berlin Olympic Stadium.
It seems that the idea of an Olympic Flame was incorporated as a symbol of Olympism. German sports official and sports scientist Carl Diem conceived the idea of an Olympic torch relay for the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin.
That year, more than 3,000 runners carried the torch from Olympia to Berlin.
German track and field athlete Fritz Schilgen was the last to carry the torch, igniting the flame in the stadium.
Oh, my God, what a mess!
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