Over the years, it has become a tradition to let famous athletes or former athletes be the last runner in the relay. The first well-known athlete to light the fire in the stadium was ninefold Olympic Champion Paavo Nurmi, who excited the home crowd in 1952. Other famous last bearers of the torch include French football star Michel Platini (1992), heavyweight boxing champion Muhammad Ali (1996) and Australian aboriginal runner Cathy Freeman (2000).
On other occasions, the people who lit the fire in the stadium are not famous, but nevertheless symbolise Olympic ideals. Japanese runner Yoshinori Sakai was born in Hiroshima on August 6, 1945, the day the nuclear weapon Little Boy destroyed that city. He symbolised the rebirth of Japan after the Second World War when he opened the 1964 Tokyo Games. At the 1976 Games in Montreal, two teenagers ¡X one from the French-speaking part of the country, one from the English-speaking part ¡X symbolised the unity of Canada. (Folklore has it that the two were later married, but that was not the case.)
Below is a full list of all persons who ended the Olympic Torch Relay by lighting the flame in the stadium.
1936 Summer Olympics: Fritz Schilgen, a track athlete.
1948 Summer Olympics: John Mark, a track athlete.
1952 Winter Olympics: Eigil Nansen, the grandson of polar explorer Fridtjof Nansen
1952 Summer Olympics: Paavo Nurmi, winner of nine Olympic gold medals in distance running in the 1920s.
1956 Winter Olympics: Guido Caroli, a speed skater who participated in the 1948, 1952 and 1956 Olympics. Skating with the torch, he tripped over a television cable but kept the flame burning.
1956 Summer Olympics: Ron Clarke and Hans Wikne (Stockholm). Long distance runner Clarke would later win an Olympic bronze medal in 1964 ; Hans Wikne later participated in the 1964 Olympics.
1960 Winter Olympics: Ken Henry, Olympic champion in 500 m speed skating at the 1952 Games.
1960 Summer Olympics: Giancarlo Peris, track athlete of Greek descent.
1964 Winter Olympics: Joseph Rieder, a former alpine skier who had taken part in the 1956 Olympics.
1964 Summer Olympics: Yoshinori Sakai, track and field athlete, born on the day the atom bomb exploded over his native Hiroshima.
1968 Winter Olympics: Alain Calmat, former figure skater, winner of the silver medal in the 1964 Olympics.
1968 Summer Olympics: Norma Enriqueta Basilio de Sotelo, a sprinter who participated in these Olympics. She was the first woman to be the last torch bearer.
1972 Winter Olympics: Hideki Takada, a student and speed skater.
1972 Summer Olympics: Gunther Zahn, a middle distance runner.
1976 Winter Olympics: Christl Haas and Josef Feistmantl. Haas won the Olympic downhill title in 1964; Feistmantl won the luge doubles in the same year.
1976 Summer Olympics: Stephane Prefontaine and Sandra Henderson, two teenagers.
1980 Winter Olympics: Charles Gugino, a professional from Nevada who had been elected from all bearers to run the final part.
1980 Summer Olympics: Sergey Belov, basketball player who won four Olympic medals, including a gold in 1972.
1984 Winter Olympics: Sanda Dubrav?i?, a figure skater who participated in the 1980 and 1984 Olympics.
1984 Summer Olympics: Rafer Johnson, winner of the decathlon at the 1960 Olympics.
1988 Winter Olympics: Robyn Perry, a 12-year-old schoolgirl and figure skater.
1988 Summer Olympics: Sohn Kee-chung, marathon gold medalist in 1936, carried the torch into the stadium, and the relay was continued by Chung Sun-Man, Kim Won-Tak and Sohn Mi-Chung, three young track and field athletes. Kim took part in the Olympic marathon.
1992 Winter Olympics: Michel Platini and Francois-Cyrille Grange, both football players. Platini took part in the Olympics in 1976; Grange was eight years old at the time.
1992 Summer Olympics: Antonio Rebollo, an archer who competed in the Paralympic Games.
1994 Winter Olympics: Crown Prince Haakon of Norway. Both his father and grandfather took part in the Olympics.
1996 Summer Olympics: Muhammad Ali, the boxer who, under the name Cassius Clay, won Olympic gold in 1960.
1998 Winter Olympics: Midori Ito, figure skater, winner of Olympic silver in 1992.
2000 Summer Olympics: Cathy Freeman, a track and field athlete. She won the gold medal in the 400 m at these Olympics.
2002 Winter Olympics: The entire U.S. ice hockey team that won the Olympic gold medal in 1980.
2004 Summer Olympics: Nikolaos Kaklamanakis, windsurfer (Olympic Windsurfing Class), 1996 Olympic gold medalist, 2004 Olympic silver medalist.
2006 Winter Olympics: Stefania Belmondo, Italian gold medalist cross-country skier.