Olympic Games coined by Coubertin's friend, the Dominican priest Henri Didon OP, for a Paris youth gathering of 1891. Coubertin's Olympic ideals are expressed in the Olympic creed: Months before each Games, the Olympic Flame is lit in Olympia in a ceremony that reflects ancient Greek rituals. A female performer, acting as a priestess, ignites a torch by placing it inside a parabolic mirror which focuses the sun's rays; she then lights the torch of the first relay bearer, thus initiating the Olympic torch relay that will carry the flame to the host city's Olympic stadium, where it plays an important role
Running in Ancient Greece (Flaceliere 106). In the Olympics, there was a race in armor, the "Hoplitodromos", which reflected the games' origins as a means of training for warfare. The torch-relay race was added to entertain the crowds. This event was run the night before the ancient Olympic Games began (Olympic Sports - Foot Races). Today we honor this tradition with the Olympic torch. One event that was not ever in the ancient Olympic Games is the marathon. What is called a marathon today gets its name from the distance covered by the runner Pheidippides over the course of three to four days from