The strange history of the Olympic Torch—and why it has to stay lit

Unfortunately—oddly—it all began with Hitler. For the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin, Adolf Hitler wanted to draw on the ancient Greeks to bring a certain authoritative, classical air to modern Germany. The head of the Reich sports office had just the plan to do it: hold an elaborate relay to bring a symbolic Olympic flame from Greece to the games.

The original torch was meant to be emblematic of German engineering and excellence, so the contract to produce them went to the Krupp Company. The same group would later provide the artillery necessary for the Nazis to take over much of Europe. The design was simple, with one primary function: to keep the flame burning. That’s still the goal today. Since 1936, the torch has taken on a different form for every Olympic relay and undergone various transformative redesigns to make it more resilient and less likely to burn out. It’s a strangely singular goal for an engineering project, but it allows for almost limitless creativity: The torch design can vary in almost every aspect, it just can’t go out.

berlin olympic torch
The original torch used in the Berlin 1936 Games.

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Engineers all over the world have, through the years, set about designing a flame that resists extinction, to varying degrees of success. But Olympic organizers know better; each year they arrange complex contingency plans in an effort to ensure that the final torch did, somehow, come from that original fire lit in Greece.

The reason for these elaborate backup plans is a good one: carrying a flame for thousands of miles and across varying landscapes is, unsurprisingly, an incredibly difficult feat. There are so many steps along the way that can wreak havoc—that starts with the initial lighting.

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