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Flames burn in the Olympic cauldron after being lit during the opening ceremony of the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Saturday, Aug. 6, 2016. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

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In this 1928 photo provided by the International Olympic Committee, the Olympic cauldron stands over the stadium in Amsterdam. The Olympic flame was introduced at the 1928 Amsterdam Olympics. The torch relay began eight years later ahead of the 1936 Berlin Games. (IOC via AP)

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Doves are released during the opening ceremony for the Tenth Olympiad in Los Angeles on July 30, 1932. The athletes of various countries stand on the field. (AP Photo)

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The Olympic torch in Lustgarten, Berlin, is lit Aug. 1, 1936, where will be guarded by members of the Hitler Youth until it is brought to the Olympic stadium for the opening of the games in the afternoon. The torch relay was not always a fixture of the modern Olympics, which began in 1896. The relay tradition began with Adolph Hitler's 1936 Olympics in Berlin. (AP Photo)

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British athlete John Mark runs with the Olympic flame, left, and on right, lights the cauldron during the opening ceremony of the XIV Olympiad, in Wembley Stadium, London on July 29, 1948. (AP Photo)

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Runner Paavo Nurmi, of Finland, lights the Olympic flame from the Olympic torch, during July 19, 1952, opening ceremony in Helsinki, Finland. (AP Photo)

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Australian athlete Ron Clark, bottom left, plunges the Olympic torch into the bronze bowl, to light the Olympic flame, which will burn throughout the XVI Olympic Games, in Melbourne, Australia, Nov. 22, 1956. (AP Photo)

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Italian student Giancarlo Peris holds the torch after lighting the Olympic flame in the tall tripod brazier on the perimeter of the Olympic Stadium in Rome, Aug. 25, 1960, at the formal opening of the XVII modern Olympiad. (AP Photo)

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Japanese runner Yoshinori Sakai runs with the Olympic torch to light the cauldron, right, during the opening ceremonies of the Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Oct. 10, 1964. (AP Photo)

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The Olympic Torch burns during the opening day ceremony in Mexico City, Oct. 12, 1968. (AP Photo)

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Runner Guenther Zahn stands near the Olympic flame he lit above the Olympic Stadium on Aug. 26, 1972, during the opening ceremony of the Summer Olympic Games in Munich, Germany. (AP Photo)

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Gymnastics athlete Sandra Henderson, left, and track and field athlete Stéphane Préfontaine Lighting of the Olympic Flame during the 1976 Montreal Olympics, July 17, 1976. (AP Photo)

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Soviet athlete Sergei Belov runs with the Olympic flame past the Olympic team from Afghanistan during opening ceremonies of the 1980 Summer Olympic Games in Moscow on Saturday, July 20, 1980. A number of teams boycotted the ceremony to protest Soviet intervention into Afghanistan. (AP Photo)

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Rafer Johnson, 1960 gold medalist for the decathlon, lights the Olympic torch during the Opening Ceremonies of the 23rd Olympiad in Los Angeles in 1984. (AP Photo)

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Pigeons fly around as the Olympic torch is lit during opening ceremonies in Seoul Sept. 17, 1988. (AP Photo/Michel Lipchitz)

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An arrow carrying the Olympic flame leaves the bow of Antonio Rebollo to light the Olympic Torch and open the XXV Olympic in Barcelona Saturday night, July 25, 1992. (AP Photo/ Dominique Mollard)

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Boxing legend Muhammed Ali lights the Olympic flame, as American swimmer Janet Evans looks on during the 1996 Summer Olympic Games opening ceremony in Atlanta, July 19, 1996. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)

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Australian runner Cathy Freeman stands under the Olympic torch after lighting the flame at the opening ceremonies for the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia, Sept. 15, 2000. (AP Photo/Kevin Frayer)

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The Olympic cauldron rises in this multiple exposure photo, left, after Nikolas Kaklamanakis, right, lit it during the Opening Ceremony of the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Friday, Aug. 13, 2004. The photo at left is a single frame time exposure interrupted at six intervals while the Olympic cauldron rises after being lit. (AP Photos)

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Li Ning lights the Olympic Torch during the opening ceremony for the Beijing 2008 Olympics in Beijing, Friday, Aug. 8, 2008. (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson)

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The Olympic cauldron is lit during the Opening Ceremony at the 2012 Summer Olympics, Saturday, July 28, 2012, in London. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

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Jorge Alberto Oliveira Gomes lights the Olympic cauldron during the opening ceremony of the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Saturday, Aug. 6, 2016. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)

AP PHOTOS: Nearly 100 years of lighting the Olympic flame

By Associated Press Lexington

PUBLISHED 9:15 PM ET Mar. 24, 2021

From Ancient Olympia to the opening ceremony, the Olympic flame has played a big part in the Games for nearly a century.

The Associated Press has covered every modern Olympics, and that includes photographs of the Olympic flame both along the torch relay route and in the cauldron.

The Olympic flame was introduced at the 1928 Amsterdam Olympics. The torch relay began eight years later ahead of the 1936 Berlin Games.

“In the context of the modern Games, the Olympic flame is a manifestation of the positive values that Man has always associated with the symbolism of fire,” the International Olympic Committee says.

The flame begins its life at a lighting ceremony in Ancient Olympia, where the original Olympics were held for centuries.

Over the years, the flame has played a bigger and bigger role at the opening ceremony, with the identity of the final torch bearer — often former Olympic greats from the host country — being the topic of feverish discussion.

Muhammad Ali, a gold medalist at the 1960 Rome Olympics, lit the torch at the 1996 Atlanta Games. Four years later, Cathy Freeman lit the flame in Sydney and became the only person to light a cauldron and win a gold medal in the same games.

One of the most memorable lightings came at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics when Paralympic archer Antonio Rebollo shot a fiery arrow over the top of the cauldron, igniting the gases from within.

The torch relay for the postponed Tokyo Games begins Thursday, but don’t expect to know the name of the person who light the cauldron on July 23 at the opening ceremony until moments before it happens.

And when it does, the AP will be there to document it.

Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.