The Lighting Ceremony

As the world turns its attention to the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, the longest domestic Olympic Torch Relay in history begins on October 22, 2009 with a traditional ritual lighting ceremony in Olympia, Greece.

Olympia is the home of the Olympic Flame, the sanctuary of Zeus (father of the gods of Olympia) and the site where the Ancient Olympic Games took place . The lighting ceremony of the Olympic Flame takes place at the temple of Hera within the Olympia site, where the ruins of a temple dedicated to this goddess remain. The actual lighting ceremony is a reminder of ancient rituals, in which gods Zeus and Hera were honoured with several fires lit and animal sacrifices in the sanctuary of Olympia.

First, the Olympic Flame is lit by sunlight focused on a metal reflector – the flame can only be lit this way — and is a part of a ritual including a prayer and a hymn made by a woman representing the ancient role of the high priestess. The ceremony also involves a young boy who cuts off an olive branch and gives it to the high priestess, a symbolical gesture.

Maria Nafpliotou is playing the role of high priestess for the Lighting Ceremony of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Torch Relay. Nafpliotou was born and lives in Athens. She’s a theatre, television and film actress as well as a dancer. Fluent in English, Nafpliotou has also played the role of high priestess during the Lighting Ceremony of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Torch Relay.

For the Olympic Winter Games, once the Olympic Flame is lit and placed in an urn, the high priestess brings it to the Pierre de Coubertin monument and hands it over to the first torchbearer marking the start of the eight-day Greek stage of the Olympic Flame’s journey.

Program

The Lighting Ceremony program began at noon (2:00 am Pacific Time) with the playing of the Olympic, Canadian and Greek anthems. The Mayor of Ancient Olympia, Georgios Aidonis, and the President of the Olympic Torch Relay Commission, Spyros Zannias, addressed the attendees.

Jacques Rogge, president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), followed by Spyros Carpalos, President of the Hellenic Olympic Committee, as well as Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games Chief Executive Officer John Furlong and Premier of British Columbia Gordon Campbell attended the ceremony.

The 25-minute Lighting Ceremony ritual followed the address, and the High Priestess handed over the Olympic Flame to the first torchbearer before he departed via Pierre de Coubertin Grove.

Dimitriadis, the First Torchbearer

Three-time Olympian and alpine skier (giant slalom), Vassilis Dimitriadis was the first torchbearer to receive the Olympic Flame after the conclusion of the Lighting Ceremony. It was not Dimitriadis’ first time carrying the flame as he was also the first torchbearer at the Lighting Ceremony of the Nagano 1998 Olympic Torch Relay as well as the flagbearer for Greece at the same Games.

Born in Brussels in 1978, Dimitriadis grew up in Florina in northern Greece. Since the start of his sports career at age 8, Dimitriadis has been a Greek champion numerous times. In addition to competing at the Nagano 1998 Olympic Winter Games, he has participated at the Salt Lake City 2002 and Torino 2006 Olympic Winter Games.

The Canadian stage of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Torch Relay will begin on October 30, 2009 in Victoria, BC and will bring the flame to over 1,030 communities on a 106-day journey across the country.

Follow the Olympic Flame by visiting the Route in Greece.

Did You Know?

• Pierre de Coubertin was the founder and second president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) from 1925 until he died in 1937 in Geneva, Switzerland. He was buried in Lausanne, Switzerland but his heart was buried — as requested in his will — in a monument near the ruins of Olympia.
  
• The Innsbruck 1964 Olympic Games marked the first official lighting ceremony for an Olympic Winter Games. Five actresses have played the role of the high priestess and have taken part in lighting ceremonies for the Olympic Winter Games the last one being Theodora Siarkou for Torino 2006.
  
• The handover of the Olympic Summer Games Flame is made in a different location than the Olympic Winter Games Flame. Rather than handing it over to the first torchbearer at the Pierre de Coubertin monument, the high priestess hands it over at the Panathenaic Stadium (the ancient Olympia stadium).
  
• The high priestess is chosen by the Hellenic Olympic Committee (HOC) and wears a traditional white toga during the ceremony, which is attended by representatives of the HOC, IOC and the Organizing Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games.
  
• The modern-day torch relay is derived from ceremonies once a part of ancient rituals in Olympia .Torch and relay races were important elements of the cultural festivals with heralds travelling through Greece to announce the games of Olympia, declaring a sacred truce. These events carried a deep ritual significance — a significance that is still respected today in the modern Olympic Torch Relay.