Image: refer to hsw
About This Quiz
Everyone chosen to help carry the Olympic torch from Athens to a game's host city experiences a great honor. But an elite few are offered the rare and exceptional privilege of being the ultimate torchbearer -- the one who lights the Olympic cauldron during the opening ceremonies. Can you match the torchbearers to their games?
Li Ning
Tokyo 1964
Beijing 2008
Li Ning was an artistic Chinese gymnast of great repute. At the Los Angeles 1984 games, he won six medals. Three gold (pommel horse, floor exercises and rings), two silver (vault and team competition) and one bronze (individual all around). In Beijing, he surfaced again, executing a series of high-flying, high-wire moves to light the cauldron for the opening ceremony.
Seoul 1988
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Robyn Perry
Calgary 1988
Robyn Perry was a 12-year-old Canadian schoolgirl and upcoming figure skater when she lit the cauldron in McMahon Stadium at the 1988 Calgary games.
Vancouver 2010
Lake Placid 1932
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Nikolaos Kaklamanakis
Athens 2004
Nikolaos Kaklamanakis, a beloved windsurfer from Greece, was a gold medalist in 1996 and a silver medalist in 2004. At those same 2004 games, he also lit the Olympic cauldron.
Paris 1924
Helsinki 1952
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Rafer Johnson
Sydney 2000
Berlin 1936
Los Angeles 1984
Rafer Johnson won the Olympic decathlon in 1960, as a U.S. athlete. That meant he was a master of not one, but 10 events in total. In recognition, he got to light the Los Angeles cauldron in 1984.
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Muhammad Ali
Atlanta 1996
Cassius Clay, aka Muhammad Ali, was also there at the 1960 games. Just 18 years old, the famed U.S. fighter took the gold in boxing. Thirty six years later, he was lighting the cauldron in Atlanta.
Moscow 1980
Los Angeles 1984
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Dr. Charles Morgan Kerr
Munich 1972
Lake Placid 1980
In 1980, Kerr, a psychologist and non-Olympian from the University of Arizona, was chosen to complete the final leg of the torch's long journey to Lake Placid.
Montreal 1976
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Ken Henry
Torino 2006
Innsbruck 1976
Squaw Valley 1960
Ken Henry took gold at the 1952 Olympics in the 500-meter speed skating event. Eight years later, in Squaw Valley, he became the first American athlete to light the Olympic cauldron.
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Fritz Schilgen
Helsinki 1952
Berlin 1936
German sprinter Fritz Schilgen lit the cauldron in 1936, culminating the first Olympic torch relay in which some 3,000 runners took part.
Amsterdam 1928
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Stefania Belmondo
Torino 2006
Stefania Belmondo, an Italian cross-country skier, won an impressive 10 medals in various alpine events between 1988 and 2002. The petite athlete didn't have to ski to Torino to fire up the Olympic cauldron though.
Oslo 1952
Lake Placid 1980
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Paavo Nurmi and Hannes Kolehmainen
Helsinki 1952
Finnish athletes Hannes Kolehmainen and Paavo Nurmi both contributed in the final stages of the cauldron lighting in Helsinki. Kolehmainen, the first of the Flying Finns, as they were affectionately known, set a high standard for later legendary distance runners like Nurmi.
Rome 1960
Moscow 1980
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Prince Haakon
Cortina d'Ampezzo 1956
Innsbruck 1964
Lillehammer 1994
Norway's crown prince lit the flame for the Lillehammer games. Both his father and his grandfather were Olympians.
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Eigil Nansen
Garmisch-Partenkirchen 1936
Oslo 1952
Eigil Nansen concluded the first winter torch relay before lighting the Olympic cauldron at the Oslo winter games. He was the grandson of explorer Fridtjof Nansen, who rose to fame when he became the first man to cross Greenland on skis.
St. Moritz 1928
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Cathy Freeman
Los Angeles 1984
Sydney 2000
Cathy Freeman lit the Olympic flame at the Sydney 2000 games. She had the distinction of being the first Aboriginal Australian to win gold.
London 1948
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Sandra Dubravcic
Albertville 1992
Calgary 1988
Sarajevo 1984
All in all, 1,600 torchbearers helped deliver the torch to Sandra Dubravcic, a renowned Yugoslavian figure skater who lit the cauldron in Sarajevo.
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Antonio Rebollo
Rome 1960
Barcelona 1992
Antonio Rebollo, a Paralympic archer from Spain, was the one to light the Olympic flame at the 1992 Barcelona games. To ensure the crowd's safety, he was told to purposefully shoot over the cauldron, which was mechanically lit just as his arrow sailed overhead.
Mexico 1968
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Günter Zahn
Munich 1972
The German runner Günter Zahn lit the Olympic flame at the 1972 Munich games. Participants used several modes of transportation to deliver the torch to him, and included cyclists, horseback riders, motorcyclists and athletes in wheelchairs, the latter for the first time.
Montreal 1976
Sydney 2000
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Alain Calmat
Squaw Valley 1960
Grenoble 1968
Alain Calmat, a French figure skater, lit the Grenoble cauldron. A microphone attached to his apparel let the whole stadium hear his heartbeat as he took the final steps.
St. Moritz 1948
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Midori Ito
Nagano 1998
Midori Ito, lighter of the Nagano cauldron, was the first female figure skater to land a triple axel in a major competition.
Sapporo 1972
Salt Lake City 2002
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Guido Caroli
Torino 2006
Grenoble 1968
Cortina D'Ampezzo 1956
Guido Caroli, an Italian speed skater, did the honors in Cortina D'Ampezzo. Cables were inadvertently laid in his path, and he tripped over them while skating. He did not, however, drop the torch or let it extinguish, and finished making his way to the cauldron.
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Yoshinori Sakaï
Tokyo 1964
Yoshinori Sakaï was chosen to light the 1964 cauldron in Tokyo. He was born in Hiroshima on Aug. 6, 1945, the day the atomic bomb was dropped on that city.
Los Angeles 1932
Seoul 1988
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