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It is extinguished at the closing ceremony of each Olympic Games. The torch is initially lit, by the Sun's rays that are concentrated by a mirror, at a ceremony in Olympia, Greece several months in advance of an Olympics. The relay then takes the torch to the site of the Olympics where the cauldron is lit with it.
The Olympic torch was first lit in Olympia with a mirror focusing the beam of the sun onto the torch.
The olympic torch represents the theft of fire from Zeus by Prometheus the giant. It also might represent a relay run in the late Ancient Olympics in which a team of runners passed a torch between them and the last runner lit a huge torch. It is a tradition to light the flame at the beginning of all Modern Olympics.
According to Wikipedia.com: " The Olympic Torch today is ignited several months before the opening celebration of the Olympic Games at the site of the ancient Olympics in Olympia, Greece. Eleven women, representing the roles of priestesses, perform a ceremony in which the torch is kindled by the light of the Sun, its rays concentrated by a parabolic mirror. "
There was no torch. The Olympic torch was made up in 1936. The Olympic torch was invented as a way of symbolically creating a connection between Olympia in Greece and an athletics meeting in some city like Berlin. The ancient Olympics didn't need a symbolic connection to Olympia because they were actually held at Olympia.