Olympian2000

ABC article from 2010: Freeman and Paralympian Louise Sauvage then lit the cauldron for the first time in 10 years. http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/09/15/3012932.htm?site=sydney Well perhaps the first time Cathy has touched it since 2000... did they relight it for Beijing 2008?

whoops!

Yes Cathy took the flame on the Opera House steps as well as the final torch runner... she got two good scenic runs actually http://www.abc.net.au/news/image/1987174-3x2-940x627.jpg

The more flames the better! I still liked the idea of the burning city, perhaps inappropriate but all the flames would be a spectacle... the "moment"

Perhaps it is some illusion based on distance, but the other thing I noticed in the video is the flame is some what higher than the triangle lighting structures... so it could be a massive piece of metal and flame up there as those triangular lights are huge.

what I found out interesting about the video at 0.08 seconds, is the cauldron is in place before it actually lights... so there goes the final torch bearer tilting the torch into the cauldron and it rising up already lit.... unless they do the cliche big steps rising so he/she can run up to that great height and light it... Atlanta already did the fireball on a string, Barcelona with the arrow... how else can they light it being so high?

so tomorrow we can move on to 2016 lighting discussion?

I think you may be onto something Baron... just a few questions - how do you set the city section of the stage alight without setting the whole stadium into a burning inferno? The stage looked to be on scaffolding, perhaps a metal surface... also where are the athletes in this scenario? in the lower section next to the burning city surface? In most summer games ceremonies, once they get the athletes in, the athletes normally take up the entire center section and leave the running track for the torch to run around. So if the athletes are in the lower section, I am not sure how they will get the torch to do a lap around the stadium before they unveil the cauldron lighting. Interested in your thoughts! (the paper that the athletes walked over in Beijing was a nice touch, wonder where that is now..)

I have been a lurker for a while, and now my excitement has gotten the better of me..... In the above picture, that is a huge fireball if it is the cauldron lighting... the shape and top of the light makes it appear to be some distance from the stadium. I am convinced the cauldron as others have said is under the stage....