Has the Olympic flame ever gone out during the history of the Games and how do they keep it lit?

Every Olympic year, the Olympic flame is lit at the site of the ancient Games in Olympia, Greece before making its way to the upcoming host city via a number of stop-offs on a torch relay decided upon by the Olympic Committee.

Olympic flame arrives in France ahead of Paris 2024

With the Paris 2024 Olympic Games now less than three months away, the iconic flame touched down on French soil on Wednesday (8 May) and will now travel from Marseille, a port city on the south coast, to the country’s capital, over 400 miles (660 kilometres) to the north.

The flame arrived in Marseille aboard a sailing ship named Belem. There were around 150,000 people ready to welcome its landing, following a trip that lasted 12 days, coming from the historic home of the Games in Greece.

What is the purpose of the Olympic flame?

The symbolism of the flame is to represent continuity between the Ancient Greek Olympics and the modern Olympics. That means that, in theory, it should stay lit once it has been ignited. However, that can sometimes be easier said than done, especially when in transit, with specially designed containers protecting the flame - and back-ups - when it’s on the move by different means of transport.

During the opening ceremony of each Games, the final torch bearer transfers the flame to the Olympic cauldron inside the central host stadium, although it is not always safe there either.

A parabolic mirror and the sun’s heat are initially used to light the flame, with an already-lit copy on hand if the lighting takes place on a rainy day.

Such back-up torches, lit from the original flame, are crucial to ensuring the flame stays lit (almost) all the time and are used to reignite it when it goes out, which often happens.

When the Olympic flame goes out

There are numerous instances of the Olympic flame going out and having to be re-ignited, sometimes in weird, wonderful and not very “proper” ways.

An official initially relit the flame with a cigarette lighter after it had been put out by a rainstorm at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, before it was then reignited again using a back-up.

A similar incident took occurred before the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi in Russia, with a security officer reportedly relighting the flame with a lighter after it had gone out at the Kremlin in Moscow.

Prior to that event, a journalist claimed the flame had blown out 44 times as they followed it from Olympia to Sochi.

All that despite the fact the current torch has a safeguard built into it which is designed to ensure the flame keeps burning.

There are actually two flames inside, one which is visible but doesn’t last especially long in the wind and rain. The other is smaller but hotter, and is protected deeper inside the torch to make it capable of reigniting the more visible flame.