Paris 2024 Olympic flame lighting ceremony

With 100-day countdown to the 2024 Paris Olympic Games around the corner, the Olympic flame that will burn throughout the Paris Olympics will be lit during a ceremony on Tuesday in Ancient Olympia, Greece.

The lighting of the Olympic flame is a symbolic moment that has been a tradition of the Olympic Games since 1936. The flame not only represents the positive values, such as peace and friendship, but also acts as a link between the ancient and modern Games.

To the ancient Greeks, fire was a sacred element, and perpetual fires were maintained in front of their main temples. During the ancient Olympic Games, a flame burned permanently on the altar of the sanctuary of the goddess Hestia; additional fires were lit at the temples of Zeus and Hera.