2000 Summer Olympics cauldron his temple and that of his wife, Hera. The modern Olympic flame is ignited at the site where the temple of Hera used to stand. The Olympic Torch today is ignited several months before the opening celebration of the Olympic Games at the site of the ancient Olympics in Olympia, Greece. Eleven women, representing the Vestal Virgins, perform a ceremony in which the torch is kindled by the light of the Sun, its rays concentrated by a parabolic mirror. In contrast to the Olympic flame proper, the torch relay of modern times, which transports the flame from Greece to the
Olympic Games ceremony the three oaths are merged into one as the Unified Oath where one athlete, judge, and coach recite one line of the oath respectively before the athlete finishes it. Finally, the Torch is brought into the stadium, passed from athlete to athlete during the torch relay, until it reaches the last carrier; often a well-known athlete from the host nation, who lights the fire in the stadium's cauldron. Under IOC rules, the lighting of the Olympic cauldron must be witnessed by those attending the opening ceremony, implying that it must be lit at the location where the ceremony is taking