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
2002 Winter Olympics torch relay to Atlanta, Georgia, where it arrived on the morning of December 4. The lantern was unloaded and Bonnie Blair used its flame to light a temporary cauldron to be used at the celebration in Atlanta. During this celebration, Muhammad Ali lit a 2002 Olympic torch from the flame in the temporary cauldron, which he then passed to Olympians Peggy Fleming and Bob Paul, who began the 2002 Winter Olympics torch relay. 2002 Winter Olympics torch relay The 2002 Winter Olympics torch relay was a 65-day run, from December 4, 2001 until February 8, 2002, prior to the 2002 Winter Olympics.