Who is lighting the torch in london

But lanterns containing flames from the lighting ceremony are available during the relay if needed. A woman was the first torchbearer for the first time ever last year when Anna Korakaki, a Greek shooting gold medalist in the Rio Games, kicked off the Tokyo Olympic torch relay. Korakaki passed off the flame to Mizuki Noguchi, a Japanese marathon runner who captured gold in the Olympics. The relay would normally then continue throughout Greece following the lighting ceremony, but on March 13 the country canceled the rest of its relay due to COVID concerns.

On March 20, the flame arrived in Japan via airplane. The Japan part of the relay was also suspended following the postponement of the Tokyo Games, and the flame was put on display at the Tokyo Olympic Museum in September.

For instance, nearly the entire Tokyo portion of the relay was moved off of public streets. The final torchbearer, who lights the Olympic cauldron during the Opening Ceremony, is typically a famous athlete, or athletes, from the host country. At the London Games, seven teenage athletes were nominated by legendary British Olympians to light the cauldron.

The identity of the cauldron lighter is kept under wraps until the Opening Ceremony, so we will have to wait until July 23 to find out who gets the honor at the Tokyo Olympics. But that wasn't to be, and instead, it was a group of young athletes aged 16 to 19 who ended up lighting the Cauldron.

Not exactly what we were all expecting. Now, before anyone jumps on me and thinks I hate children, I will say that I certainly don't blame the young adults for this move. Clearly they didn't make the decision themselves and no matter what, they definitely made lemonade with lemons.

It's just that we were all expecting more. The lighting ceremony was held on March 12, , shortly before the Games were officially postponed to due to the COVID pandemic. You can watch it here. The top of the Olympic torch for the Games resembles a Japanese cherry blossom with five petal-shaped pieces where flames come out of.

The torch is made out of aluminum, with some of it being recycled material from the temporary housing that was built following the earthquake and tsunami in Japan. The flame is transferred from one torch to another during the relay.

The first torchbearer, traditionally a Greek athlete, attends the lighting ceremony to receive the flame and then delivers it to the second torchbearer at the nearby monument for Baron Pierre de Coubertin , who founded the modern Games. You may be wondering what happens if the flame goes out. But lanterns containing flames from the lighting ceremony are available during the relay if needed. A woman was the first torchbearer for the first time ever last year when Anna Korakaki, a Greek shooting gold medalist in the Rio Games, kicked off the Tokyo Olympic torch relay.

Korakaki passed off the flame to Mizuki Noguchi, a Japanese marathon runner who captured gold in the Olympics. The relay would normally then continue throughout Greece following the lighting ceremony, but on March 13 the country canceled the rest of its relay due to COVID concerns.

On March 20, the flame arrived in Japan via airplane. The Japan part of the relay was also suspended following the postponement of the Tokyo Games, and the flame was put on display at the Tokyo Olympic Museum in September. For instance, nearly the entire Tokyo portion of the relay was moved off of public streets.