Olympic flame

Fire has always had a great attraction for people. In antiquity a sacred fire of embers was kept burning in honor of Hestia, the goddess of the home and guardian of peace. The Olympic flame tradition also originated in ancient Greece where during the Olympic Games the honor of reviving the flame belonged to the winners of the previous games. In such a way the flame became a bridge symboli­cally uniting different generations.¹

This old tradition was revived in the 20th century. In our days the Olympic flame is the symbol of peace, friendship and mutual understanding between nations, and its lighting signifies the start of a grand sport festival for all the well-wishing nations. This has been so for decades, and was repeated again at the opening of the 22nd Olympic Games in Moscow in 1980.

On June 19, 1980_; exactly one month before the opening of the Games of the 22nd Olympiad in Moscow, the traditional ceremony of lighting the Olympic torch took place in ancient Olympia.

From the ancient stadium of Olympia a narrow avenue of cypresses leads to the Coubertin memorial park and ends at a circular area cut into the body of the hill². In the centre is the Coubertin stela. Beneath its cold marble rests the heart of the founder of the Olympic Games,³ as he willed it. The ceremony of laying wreaths at the stela is the prologue to the festivities. After a minute of silence a drum begins to beat, symbolizing, as it were, the heartbeats of the famous Frenchman.

The sun is at its height.⁴ Envoys from Olympic Moscow, the organizers of the ceremony, local inhabitants and thousands of tourists are all waiting for the main event. The producer of the ceremony Maria Hors, head choreog­rapher at a lycée for Greek girls in Athens, bangs the tambourine. Reed pipes begin to play. Young priestesses in long robes emerge from a niche in the ruined temple of Hera. They form a circle round the altar, next to which is a curved mirror⁵ and the first torch of the 1980 Olympics.

Inspired and majestic, the High Priestess⁶, played by the Greek actress Maria Moscholiou, lights the Olympic Flame from the scorching rays of the sun. The first torch-bearer⁷ receives the torch and an olive branch from her hands. The High Priestess sends him on his way with the words: "The rays of Phoebe have lit the sacred torch. Its flame, borne to the stadium in Moscow, will cast its light on the noble and peaceful competitions of the peoples of the whole world!"

The Olympic flame relay⁸ from ancient Olympia to Moscow, the host city of the Games of the 22nd Olympiad, lasted one month. About 5,000 runners carried the flaming torch on the roads of Greece, Bulgaria, Romania and the Soviet Union, and brought it to the V. I. Lenin Central Stadium on July 19, to announce the beginning of the 22nd Olympic Games.

Word – Power

Task 1. Study the following vocabulary notes:

1. Their true concept ... — их истинный смысл (идея) ...

2. The Olympic Creed — олимпийское кредо

3. The Olympic Oath — олимпийская клятва

4. respecting and abiding by the rules — уважая и твердо следуя правилам

5. for the glory of sports and the honor of our teams — во славу спорта и чести наших команд

6. oath of allegiance — клятва верности

1 valuable gift — ценный подарок

2. a laure wreath — лавровый венок

3. a well-deserved gold medal — no праву заслуженная золотая медаль

4. a restaurateur offered him free dinner at his establishment for the rest of this life — владелец ресторана угощал его бесплатными обедами до конца жизни

1 valuable gift — ценный подарок

2. a laure wreath — лавровый венок

3. a well-deserved gold medal — no праву заслуженная золотая медаль

4. a restaurateur offered him free dinner at his establishment for the rest of this life — владелец ресторана угощал его бесплатными обедами до конца жизни

1. the flame became a bridge symbolically uniting different gene­rations — огонь стал мостом, символически объединяющим разные поколения

2. a circular area cut into the body of the hill — круглая площадка, высеченная в холме

3. beneath its cold marble rests the heart of the founder of the Olympic Games — под его холодным мрамором покоится сердце основателя Олимпийских игр

4. The sun is at its height.— Солнце в зените.

5. a curved mirror — сферическое зеркало

6. the High Priesters — верховная жрица

7. the first torch-bearer — первый факельщик

8. the Olympic flame relay — эстафета олимпийского огня