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Wednesday, July 25, 2012

The Cauldron Lighting Repository, 2012 Edition

Two years ago, I posted a link to a post on the Penny Arcade boards in which I compiled videos of all the Olympic cauldron lightings I could find.

This year I'm going to do the same, but host it internally. Besides, a lot of the links from last time have since gone dead. The two biggest questions of any Opening Ceremony are, who's the final torchbearer, and how is the cauldron going to get lit.

I can't say how it will be done in a few days' time. But here's how it was done before. Click any Games to find its corresponding video and the best available clip I could find.

SUMMER OLYMPIAD

Amsterdam 1928
Los Angeles 1932
Berlin 1936 (skip to the 7:00 mark if you want to skip Hitler)
London 1948
Helsinki 1952
Melbourne 1956
Rome 1960
Tokyo 1964
Mexico City 1968
Munich 1972
Montreal 1976
Moscow 1980
Los Angeles 1984
Seoul 1988
Barcelona 1992
Atlanta 1996
Sydney 2000
Athens 2004
Beijing 2008

WINTER OLYMPIAD
Oslo 1952
Cortina d'Ampezzo 1956
Squaw Valley 1960
Innsbruck 1964
Grenoble 1968
Sapporo 1972
Innsbruck 1976
Lake Placid 1980
Sarajevo 1984
Calgary 1988
Albertville 1992
Lillehammer 1994
Nagano 1998
Salt Lake City 2002
Torino 2006
Vancouver 2010 (link goes to video of full ceremony; torch approaches the stadium at 2:58:00)

OTHER GAMES (the Commonwealth Games, encompassing the former British Empire, despite having a relay, do not have a cauldron lighting; instead, they use a baton handed from the Queen to the first runner and which is handed back to her or a representative by the final runner; it carries a message officially opening the Games)

Asian Games, Delhi 1982
Asian Games, Seoul 1986
Asian Games, Hiroshima 1994
Asian Games, Bangkok 1998
Pan-American Games, Winnipeg 1999
Southeast Asian Games, Kuala Lumpur 2001
Asian Games, Busan 2002
Pan-American Games, Santo Domingo 2003
Paralympics, Athens 2004
Southeast Asian Games, Manila 2005
Asian Games, Doha 2006
Gay Games, Chicago 2006
Southeast Asian Games, Nakhon Ratchaisma 2007
Pan-American Games, Rio 2007
Paralympics, Beijing 2008 
Southeast Asian Games, Vientiane 2009
Asian Games, Guangzhou 2010
Gay Games, Cologne 2010
Paralympics, Vancouver 2010
South American Games, Medellin 2010
Youth Olympic Games, Singapore 2010
Asian Winter Games, Astana 2011 (full ceremony; torch approaches the stadium at 2:35:00)
Pan-American Games, Guadalajara 2011
Southeast Asian Games, Palembang/Jakarta 2011 (take note of how this one goes wrong in more than one place)
Winter Youth Olympic Games, Innsbruck 2012 (entire ceremony; torch approaches the stadium at 1:19:23)

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