The Olympic torch relay is a popular tradition since it was first introduced in preparation of the Olympic Games in Berlin, 1936. From this year on the tradition began to expand and also to develop. The number of torchbearers grew and so did the number of visited countries. The Olympic torch was seen at spectacular locations, e.g. the Great Barrier Reef in 2000 or the Mount Everest peak in 2008. In order to meet the demands of those challenging locations, the torch had to go through several transformations in design and also in chemical issues.

ChemistryViews gives a survey about "The Chemical Journey of the Olympic Torch" in a very interessting article.