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London 2012 Olympic Cauldron...


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It's not true that there never has been more than one cauldron in Olympic Summer Games. Helsinki had two cauldrons, one inside the Olympic Stadium and one on top of the tower next to the Olympic Stadium. They were lit almost simultaneously by Paavo Nurmi and Hannes Kolehmainen.

Furthermore, if one wanted to be pedantic, one should mention that there are often secondary cauldrons at more remote venues. Beijing for example had cauldrons in Qingdao (where the sailing took place) and at the equestrian venue in Hong Kong. Munich had secondary cauldrons in Kiel-Schilksee (sailing venue) and, I believe, also in Augsburg (whitewater canoe venue).

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Cauldrons at Summer Olympic Games:

AMSTERDAM 1928 - -One Cauldron. A symbolic fire first lit at these Games.

LOS ANGELES 1932 - One Cauldron

BERLIN 1936 - - - - - - One Cauldron

LONDON 1948 One Cauldron

HELSINKI 1952 One Cauldron

MELBOURNE 1956 One Cauldron

ROME 1960 One Cauldron

TOKYO 1964 One Cauldron

MEXICO 1968 One Cauldron

MUNICH 1972 One Cauldron

MONTREAL 1976 One Cauldron

MOSCOW 1980 One Cauldron

LOS ANGELES 1984 One Cauldron

SEOUL 1988 One Cauldron

BARCELONA 1992 One Cauldron

ATLANTA 1996 One Cauldron

SYDNEY 2000 One Cauldron

ATHENS 2004 One Cauldron

BEIJING 2008 One Cauldron

LONDON 2012 ?

Ermmm...NOT entirely.

Berlin had two sub-cauldrons at Grunau (the rowing venue) and onboard a galleon at Kiel harbor (the yachting venue).

You forgot Stockholm 1956 which then sent a sub-relay to Melbourne for a sub-cauldron. :lol:

Moscow 1980 had a sub-cauldron at Tallinn; and Beijing 2008 had a 2nd scroll cauldron in HongKong, its equestrian venue.

(all of the above from that fabulous book on Olympic ceremonies!!) ;)

Oh yeah, forgot about Qindao. And there was a photo where it sat prominently on the harbor...but I can't seem to find the image now.

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it just fan made...not real

Ok...

So, analyzing the Heatherwick artwork I can imagine the design of the cauldron... Curves, layers and nails...

beach_cafe.jpg

thw-boi-0002-a-previ_57dc04.jpg

img_sitooterie_4.jpg

img_konstam_2.jpg

img_harvey_3.jpg

Can you imagen a mixture of all of this in just one tower to hold the Olympia sacred symbol????

It seems so vanguardistic!!!

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They were lit almost simultaneously by Paavo Nurmi and Hannes Kolehmainen.

Almost, but not quite. After Nurmi lit the brazier on the infield, he ran it outside to the base of the tower where the 1st of 4 young football players then relayed it at up at 6 stories each (the tower rises to 24 stories) to the top where (I forget, 60+ year-old?) Kolehmainen was waiting and lit that one.

The senior Kolehmainen's ascent and descent, as one can imagine very slowly, were not factored into that interim realy transfer, i.e., they had him get to the tower (probably with an oxygen tank waiting up on top) like a half-hour before his turn.

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(didn't mean to repeat your Helsinki youtube clip Shrek201, we found the same one and I didn't realise you had already posted it when I also found it and posted it as well)

Well, that only means there were actually FOUR cauldrons lit at Helsinki!! :lol:

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The implication I think I am picking up here, rightly or wrongly, being that although a separate tower north of the Stadium was given planning permission, that the Orbit Tower has now taken precedence. Just wondering ......

This is the site of an enthuisiast (and he's got some impressive mock-ups), not that of anyone 'in the know', or that of anyone involved in any Olympic projects. The guy graduated from university only eight months ago.

A nice site, but nothing even vaguely official or helpful in finding out new information about the cauldron.

Edited by RobH
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Now I know what UFO spotters feel like ....

But just found this intriguing first photo dated 16 Apr-12 and have circled in red an interesting round shape on the ground outside the Northern end of the Stadium. This is in the same area that the planning permission was given for a possible Cauldron site discussed in this thread.

This "circle" could be a garden or something as it appears to have a green tinge. It could also be the disguised foundations for a pre-assembled Cauldron tower to be erected on that site in the coming days.

The 2nd photo also dated 16 Apr-12 from another angle shows two suspect areas circled in red outside the Northern end of the Stadium.

Both these photos are very similar to the 3rd April one already posted a few times on this thread and included again here for comparison.

These photos also show stage setups inside the Stadium and what appears to be a covered walkway from the nearby practice athletics field on the southern end for the athletes to walk through to the Stadium for the Parade of Nations.

But its that circle on the ground at the Northern end in the first photo and its location near the apex of the two waterways I'm more interested in.

1st Photo: 16 April-12

2-16Apr-121253292_M01.jpg

2nd Photo: 16 Apr-12

3-16Apr-121253301_M01.jpg

3rd Photo: April-12

1253274_M01-1.jpg

Yes that looks rather suspicious. I was reading an article at the telegraph online about Thomas heatherwick and he said that he will be revealing the cauldron during July, I don't know whether that means before the opening ceremony, or during. What do you think?

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Ring if fire NOT going to happen. At the Innsbruck YOG in January, they only lit the 3 cauldrons for like 1.5 minutes--not even until the end of the ceremony, in order to be economical and environmentally sensitive. What more an idiotic, completely hazardous "ring-of-fire" idea? :blink: Please, people, get sensible!!

Coming from the man who proposed putting the cauldron on Queen Elizabeth's head and having trumpeters standing on golf tees....

Nothing remotely "pot and kettle" happening here.....

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Now I know what UFO spotters feel like ....

But just found this intriguing first photo dated 16 Apr-12 and have circled in red an interesting round shape on the ground outside the Northern end of the Stadium. This is in the same area that the planning permission was given for a possible Cauldron site discussed in this thread.

This "circle" could be a garden or something as it appears to have a green tinge. It could also be the disguised foundations for a pre-assembled Cauldron tower to be erected on that site in the coming days.

The 2nd photo also dated 16 Apr-12 from another angle shows two suspect areas circled in red outside the Northern end of the Stadium.

Both these photos are very similar to the 3rd April one already posted a few times on this thread and included again here for comparison.

These photos also show stage setups inside the Stadium and what appears to be a covered walkway from the nearby practice athletics field on the southern end for the athletes to walk through to the Stadium for the Parade of Nations.

But its that circle on the ground at the Northern end in the first photo and its location near the apex of the two waterways I'm more interested in.

1st Photo: 16 April-12

2-16Apr-121253292_M01.jpg

2nd Photo: 16 Apr-12

3rd Photo: April-12

Those circled areas are just construction materials and tractor if you zoom in the high res photos. Not sure where you got the green tinge from, I see nothing here.

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A big yellow tractor. If anything this pic shows the scale of this northern compound which is actually quite big. I am quite comfortable with the original idea of a cauldron tower located here it can be like a magic roundabout where spectators passed through upon entering from the bridge.

dfgfe.jpg

Edited by kevzz
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A big yellow tractor. If anything this pic shows the scale of this northern compound which is actually quite big. I am quite comfortable with the original idea of a cauldron tower located here it can be like a magic roundabout where spectators passed through upon entering from the bridge.

No way to have it here... This a pass-way for spectators and you could not something in the middle that will reduce the flow... Security reasons....

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I thought I'd post a bit of a montage of heatherwicks work see if anyone can gleam anything from it : )

heatherwick.jpg

..............anything

I would be very happy if the cauldron design is something like the Big Bang sculpture. It's powerful simple and magical looking!

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I thought I'd post a bit of a montage of heatherwicks work see if anyone can gleam anything from it : )

heatherwick.jpg

..............anything

None of those bulky designs will work for a cauldron. Considering the space that's allotted for it, plus it has to be something raised, and is probably being assembled elsewhere, it'll be in the shape of a traditional tower with a little bulb-inflammation at the top. So, maybe in the shape of a giant golf tee (per the tickets)?

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I bet it'll be something very simple because any fine detail work on it cannot be appreciated up-close if the thing is raised 150 ft. in the air. Maybe in the shape of a "lily of the Valley," an iris, an English rose or something like that--in keeping with the theme of an English garden,

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