The origin of the Olympic flame dates back to ancient Greece when a sacred flame was kept alive at the altar of Zeus during the duration of the Games.
Today, the ceremony of lighting the torch is carried out at the ancient Olympic stadium in Olympia, Greece.
Women dressed in the fashion of ancient Greece light the
flame by focusing the sun's rays with the use of a parabolic mirror.
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The flame is then placed in a cauldron and paraded to the center of the stadium where the gods of Olympus are invoked and the torch is lit and passed to the first runner.