2002 Winter Olympics torch relay the games, all three locomotives were combined into one triple-headed train, and used to transport the Olympic flame from Soldier Hollow to Heber City, Utah as part of the torch relay. On November 19, 2001, the first 2002 Olympic torch was lit at the birthplace of the Olympic Games in Olympia, Greece. Greek actress Thalia Prokopiou played the role of high priestess and lit the torch using a flame kept in a clay urn. Usually the torch is lit using a parabolic mirror and the sun's rays, but for the third games in a row, cloudy conditions prevented that from
2008 Summer Olympics torch relay played against the landscape of a lovely city." International Olympic Committee President Jacques Rogge said the San Francisco relay had "fortunately" avoided much of the disruptions that marred the legs in London and Paris, but "was, however, not the joyous party that we had wished it to be." The day was marked by several pro-Tibet protests, which included a giant banner reading "Free Tibet", and an alternative "human rights torch" that was lit by protesters and paraded along the route the flame was to take. Most of these protests were peaceful in nature, and the torch was not impeded. Chinese