Significance and Passing of the Olympic Torch
Posted by May 27, 2014in Travelon
The significance of the Olympic Torch goes back in history to the ancient Olympic Games in Olympia, Greece. According to the old myth, a flame was ignited by the sun and kept burning until the closing of the Olympic Games.
It represents a number of things including purity, a strive for perfection, and life. The chairman of the organizing committee for the 1936 Olympic Games, Carl Diem, suggested what is now the modern Olympic Torch relay. The 2012 Olympics torch relay is in progress, running from May 19 to July 21, prior to the 2012 Olympics.
The torch’s route goes through 1,019 communities in England, Wales, Ireland, Scotland, and the UK after it makes it’s ritual rounds through Greece. De-Neita Peoples, who is currently studying abroad in Camden, London, was fortunate enough to see the Olympic Torch go through her city. Her video blog is her own perspective of the passing of the torch through the town she is in. The torch will be carried by 8,000 inspirational and nominated people across the UK.
A lot of people wonder how the Olympic Torch can be carried through so many elements, mediums, and modes of transportation. The most well-known form of transportation is by running the torch. The torch is carried over water by power boat, a RNLI lifeboat, by ferry, steamboat, and by rowing. It is carried by rail by steam locomotives, mainline railways, standard gauge heritage railways, and smaller gauges, funicular railways, and electric trams. By road vehicle, the torch will be passed by security van, road train, open top bus, motorcycle sidecar, a Paralympic road cycle, and mountain bike. Other more exotic ways to carry the torch such as by horseback, zip wire, and by cable car are all involved in the passing of the torch in the 2012 Olympics.