Olympic flame designated sites of the Games, had no ancient precedent and was introduced by Carl Diem at the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin which were organized by the Nazis under the guidance of Joseph Goebbels. At the first Olympic torch relay, the flame was transported from Olympia to Berlin over 3,187 kilometres by 3,331 runners in twelve days and eleven nights. There were minor protests in Yugoslavia and Czechoslovakia on the way, which were suppressed by the local security forces. Leni Riefenstahl later staged the torch relay for the 1938 film "Olympia". The Olympic fire is ignited several months before the
Siegfried Eifrig was chosen to carry the Olympic Flame which lit the cauldron at the first Olympic torch relay. His relay began at Unter den Linden and made its way to Olympic stadium in Berlin, where he lit two urns which burned until the end of the summer games. From the urns, the flame was then transferred to Fritz Schilgen, who lit the Olympic Cauldron in Olympic stadium. Even with his athletic talent, Eifrig did not make the German Olympic team. With his blond hair, blue eyes, and tall athletic physique, Eifrig was chosen to embody the Nazi's ideal Aryan athlete. Even