Olympic Opening Ceremony Torch Lighting: Children Open the 2012 London Games

The 2012 Olympic torch was lit by seven promising young British athletes and not by Sir Roger Bannister, as many expected. After seventy days across the United Kingdom and through the hands of 8,000 torchbearers, the Torch has finally been lit and the Olympic Games have officially begun.

Leading up to the lighting, British football star David Beckham drove a speedboat with the torch up the Thames. He passed it to five-time Olympic rowing champion Steve Redgrave. Redgrave then made the final march to the stadium.

The seven teenagers then lit light copper petals that sparked a chain reaction, lighting over 200 petals that formed a cauldron of flames. An explosion followed and fireworks filled the sky as the Olympics officially began.

The teenagers were handpicked by British Olympic greats and ranged in age from 16 to 19. They are identified as Callum Airlie, Jordan Duckitt, Desiree Henry, Katie Kirk, Cameron MacRitchie, Aidan Reynolds and Adelle Tracey. Their sport of performance is not presently known.

Sure, the lighting doesn't feature a recognizable celebrity or an icon of British Olympic history. However, the heavily symbolic opening ceremony didn’t disappoint with this final shocker. A symbol of the future is exhibited by the youngsters lighting the torch and shouldn't go unnoticed.

It is only fitting that amidst the rest of the spectacle, these youngsters—perhaps future participants in these very games—were chosen to light the torch of the present day games.

It was a creative and gutsy move that will pay off as people remember it for generations.

After all, it beats copying the past by having Muhammad Ali light the thing again. Doesn’t it?

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