List of people who have lit the Olympic Cauldron

The tradition of carrying the Olympic flame from Olympia, Greece, the birthplace of the Ancient Olympic Games, to the host city of the modern Olympic Games via a torch relay was first introduced in 1936, ahead of the Berlin Games. Since then, famous athletes (active or retired) with significant sporting achievements while representing the host country were allowed to be the last runner in the Olympic torch relay and consequently have the honor of lighting the Olympic cauldron at the opening ceremony.

The first well-known athlete to light the cauldron was nine-time Olympic champion Paavo Nurmi at the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki. Other famous final torch bearers include French football star Michel Platini (1992), heavyweight boxing champion Muhammad Ali (1996), Australian sprinter Cathy Freeman (2000), and Canadian ice hockey player Wayne Gretzky (2010).

On other occasions, the people who lit the cauldron were not famous but nevertheless symbolized the Olympic ideals. Japanese runner Yoshinori Sakai was born in Hiroshima on August 6, 1945, the day the city was destroyed by an atomic bomb. He symbolized the rebirth of Japan after the Second World War when he lit the Olympic cauldron of the 1964 Summer Olympics. At the 1976 Games in Montreal, two teenagers—representing the French- and the English-speaking parts of the country—symbolized the unity of Canada. Norway's Crown Prince Haakon lit the cauldron of the 1994 Winter Olympics, in honor of his father and grandfather, both Olympians. For the 2012 Games in London, seven aspiring young athletes—each nominated by a former British Olympic champion—had the honor of lighting the cauldron.

...
Wikipedia