# What to do with the Olympic Cauldron?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-with-the-olympic-cauldron/98517>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [March 15, 2002, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-with-the-olympic-cauldron/98517 "2002-03-15T20:56:41Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Jet\_Jaguar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jet_jaguar/32/3562_2.png) [@Jet\_Jaguar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jet_Jaguar)\
**Post date:** [March 15, 2002, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-with-the-olympic-cauldron/98517/1 "2002-03-15T20:56:41Z")

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What do they do with the Olympic cauldron the flame was burning in after the games are over? Do they tear them down, leave them as a monument, or something else? Do they ever light the flame again? I understand the paralympic games are going on right now in Salt Lake, do they use the same cauldron for their flame or do they have their own?

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**Author:** ![evilhanz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ba8739/32.png) [@evilhanz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/evilhanz)\
**Post date:** [March 15, 2002, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-with-the-olympic-cauldron/98517/2 "2002-03-15T22:56:32Z")

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My information comes from this [message](http://cev.ucb.br/pipermail/cevolimp-l/2001-September/000274.html). I have not tried to verify the information, but the poster is a representative of the Center for Olympic Studies in Australia discussiing a controversy over relighting the Sydeny torch.

Dismantled:  
Nagano  
Calgary

Relocated:  
Atlanta (to a city park)

Still in place:  
Sydney  
Montreal  
Los Angeles (I think)

- Sometimes the flame is relit: Berlin (1937), Los Angeles and Calgary (1989), Sydney (just recently), Montreal (with each summer Games and the 25th anniversary), possibly others

- The Olympic flame **is** relit for the Paralympics in the same cauldron.

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**Author:** ![Steel\_Wheels](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Steel\_Wheels](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steel_Wheels)\
**Post date:** [March 16, 2002, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-with-the-olympic-cauldron/98517/3 "2002-03-16T02:18:07Z")

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The Olympic cauldron here in Calgary actually hasn’t been dismantled. It is still located in McMahon Stadium where the opening ceremonies took place in 1988. It hasn’t been lit since but there is a second cauldron on top of the [Calgary Tower](http://www.scienceandart.org/photography/Calgaryrodeo/originals/tower.html) (which the torches for the relay were modeled after) which is re-lit from time to time for special occasions.

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**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\
**Post date:** [March 16, 2002, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-with-the-olympic-cauldron/98517/4 "2002-03-16T22:50:24Z")

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A former professor of mine once lit the Olympic cauldron in Tokyo, as part of the pre-game show for a football game held in the Olympic stadium. Apparently, the Japanese don’t play much American football, but they enjoy watching it.