Patrick Smith is a London-based editor and reporter for NBC News Digital.
The Olympic flame was lit at the birthplace of the Games in Greece on Tuesday, in a ceremony rich with ancient traditions that will launch a torch relay culminating in Paris on July 26. The flame was lit at the site of ancient Olympia and will now be carried more than 3,000 miles on its way to the French capital this summer. In ancient times the flame was lit with the energy of the sun and would remain lit in a sanctuary at Olympia known as the Prytaneum.
The priestess keeper of the fire, known as the Hestiada, then takes the flame in an urn to the ancient stadium at Olympia, where it is given to the first torchbearer along with an olive branch, symbolizing peace. That first torchbearer will be Olympic rowing champion Stefanos Ntouskos, who will receive the flame at the edge of the ancient Olympic stadium for the start of a relay through Greece.
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