Holder:
The holder was designed to match with the
torch. In selecting its material, its weight and other factors were carefully
considered, and resulted in the selection of an alloy with aluminium as
its chief ingredient.
The Olympic Torch and its carrier:
For the safekeeping of the Olympic Torch
at the various stopping places and while being relayed by the plane, an
Olympic Torch burner was selected, designed on the principle of the coal-mine
safety lamp. The fuel used for this burner was kerosene, and emphasis was
laid on the safety factors. Fuel of a high flash point was selected and
the appearance of the flame and other technical factors were carefully
taken into consideration in perfecting this burner. The burner-carrier
was so designed that even while the Olympic Torch was being relayed by
the runners, the Torch's counterpart could be kept burning safely in the
accompanying automobile, hung by a special air-cushioning device. On the
relaying plane, also ample protection factors were incorporated for the
Olympic Torch to eliminate any hazards of fire and accident.
The safety lamp for carring the sacred flame
The Olympic Torch Vessel and the igniter:
For the ceremony to be performed upon arrival
at and departure from each stopping place, an Olympic Torch Vessel was
used. Its design was made to harmonize with the Holder and to as well perform
the function of augmenting the stage effects of the Relay Ceremony. Each
day during the Olympic Torch Relay, all of these implements were made use
of. The igniter required in transferring the Torch from one container to
the next, also had to satisfy the requirements of being safe, reliable
and simple. Consideration was also given to the following points:
The uniform for the runners:
This was standardized for use both in the
foreign countries and in Japan. The mark of the Tokyo Olympic Games was
embroidered onto the breast of the all-white running shirt (for men) and
T-shirt (for women). Pants and shoes were supplied to all official runners.
|
| The Actual Relay
From Olympia to Okinawa
On 21st August 1964, H.M., King Constantine
II of Greece, together with H.R.H., Princess Irene, as chairman of the
Hellenic Olympic Committee, arrived at Olympia. They laid a lourel wreath
at the tomb where the heart of Baron Pierre de Coubertin is enshrined.
About this same hour, at the ruins of the ancient Temple of Zeus, the Priestesses
were igniting the Sacred Olympic Flame in the Bowl from the heat of the
rays of the sun. This Olympic Torch in the Bessel, guarded by junior priestesses,
was then transferred to the site of the Ancient Olympics, where H.M. the
King, H.H. the Princess, President Brundage of the International Olympic
Committee, President Yasukawa of the Organizing Committee, Chairman Takashima
of the Olympic Torch Relay Dommittee and other officials were waiting.
In this impressive ceremony, Chief Priestess, Mrs. Aleca Katselli lit the
Torch from the vessel, and handed it to H.M. King Constantine, who in turn
handed the Torch to the first relay runner, George Marcellos, the Greek
110-yard hurdle champion.
With the torch held high, Marcellos first
stopped at the Coubertin Memorial Park, to light the Olympic Flame Cauldron
in front of the shrine. He then proceeded to Pyrgos, the first relay point.
Thus was started the Olympic Torch on the relay which was to take it all
the way to Tokyo in the Far East, to link the two continents of Europe
and Asia.
The Torch was carried northward along the
shores of the Ionian Sea. The sun began to set as the Torch reached Patras,
at the mouth of the Gulf of Corinth, but the relay runners pressed onward
to Athens through the night under the pale light of the full moon. It was
on the following evening that the Torch finally reached the marbleconstructed
Pan-Athenian Stadium, the first venue of the Modern Olympics. Here the
city of Athens turned out to welcome the Sacred Fire.
After the second fire had been set aflame
on the mounted cauldron especially set up at the stadium, and amidst the
impressive ceremonies of benediction, the relay started again, this time
to the Hellinikon Airport. It was here that the Sacred Torch was taken
into Japanese custody for the first time, as the Torch was handed over
to the President of the Organizing Committee for the XVIII Games, Mr. Yasukawa
as representing Japan's Olympic delegation.
The Olympic Torch, kept at rest in the Airport
precincts overnight, was carried to the special Olympic Torch Relay Plane,
"City of Tokyo" on the following day, 23rd August. At 2.15 p.m., the plane
took-off for Istanbul, the first stop-over city, and landed at the Yesilkoy
Airport in the suburb of Istanbul at 5.00 p.m. that evening. The Olympic
Flame thus spent its first night in Asia in Turkey.
On the 24th the flame was flown to Beirut
(Lebanon) and Teheran (Iran); on the 27th to Lahore (Pakistan); the 28th
to New Delhi (India) and Rangoon (Burma); the 31st it was in Bangkok (Thailand);
2nd September in Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) and the 3rd of September in Manila
(the Philippines). At each of these air relay stopover cities, the Olympic
Torch received a most enthusiastic reception.
Up to this time, the extra day each scheduled
in reserve had been spent in Beirut and Bangkok. At New Delhi, the Torch
was apportioned in order to present a flame of the Sacred Fire to the representatives
of Nepal who by previous arrangement had been given permission to use it
in a relay ceremony at Katmandu. |
