The 4 Most Unusual Torch Lightings in Olympic History

Viewers know that the Olympic Games truly begin when the Olympic cauldron is lit. After all, it's a symbol of the Games for everyone to see during the duration of competition with a flame originally lit in Greece, the home of the ancient games, before traveling in a torch relay to reach the Olympic Cauldron.

There have been some remarkable and beautiful moments to see the cauldron finally lit, like boxing legend and former Olympian Muhammad Ali emerging to light the cauldron in Atlanta in 1996. But others may be surprising or unusual in their own way. The next time you watch the cauldron get lit to start another Olympic Games, remember these more strange lightings in history.

1. Barcelona 1992
2. Seoul 1988
3. Vancouver 2010
4. Lillehammer 1994

Barcelona 1992

One of the torch lightings that sticks out for fans was in Barcelona in 1992 when Spanish Paralympian Antonio Rebollo was chosen for his archery skills to send a flaming arrow through the gas emitted from the cauldron to light the Olympic flame.

Rebollo had to be precise, as the arrow could have missed the gas flame and not ignited the cauldron. He also had to overshoot the crowd with a plan for the flaming arrow to land in a sandbox outside the stadium to prevent the possibility of hitting the crowd with a flaming arrow.

Seoul 1988

Things didn't work out so well in Seoul during the 1988 Olympic Games. The planners of the opening ceremony decided to include the release of doves during the ceremony as a symbol of peace for the Olympic Games. Unfortunately, some of the birds found the cauldron to be a nice spot to watch the ceremony from after they were released and were burned when the cauldron was lit.

The three torchlighters were lifted from the ground to light the cauldron and likely didn't know the birds were there when they lit the flame.

Vancouver 2010

The Olympics in Vancouver featured four Canadian athletes lighting a unique four-armed cauldron in the center of the stadium. But when it came time for Wayne Gretzky, Steve Nash, Catriona Le May Doan, and Nancy Greene to light each of the four branches, only three of them emerged from the floor, leaving LeMay Doan standing awkwardly with her torch and nothing to light it with.

Organizers later blamed a mechanical issue for the arm that didn't want to be lit.

Lillehammer 1994

The Winter Games in Norway brought an amazing sight to Olympic fans with the torch being brought into the stadium during the opening ceremony by a ski jumper. However, Stein Gruben was the backup jumper after Ole Gunnar Fidjestol was injured in a crash during a practice session. Gruben safely landed with the lit torch in hand on the night of the opening ceremony.

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