London 2012: Olympic Cauldron Extinguished As Moved To Different Part Of Stadium (PICTURES)

London 2012: Olympic Cauldron Extinguished

The Olympic Cauldron has been temporarily extinguished as organisers move it to another area of the stadium.

Witnesses reported that the Cauldron was seen unlit at around 11pm on Sunday evening, despite the fact the flame is traditionally supposed to burn for the duration of the ceremony.

The Cauldron is to be moved to the south end of the Olympic stadium, echoing its location during the London 1948 Games.

The new location will be more visible to athletes and those without tickets to the main stadium.

The Cauldron is to be moved somewhere moved visible

The Cauldron is expected to be relit on Monday and meanwhile the flame is being safeguarded in special miners lanterns overnight.

It is not the first time the flame has gone out during London 2012. On day three of the Olympic Torch Relay, the torch was extinguished while attached to the side of David Follett’s wheelchair in Great Torrington, Devon.

The flame will be safeguarded in lanterns

Speaking to The Huffington Post UK at the time a London 2012 spokesperson explained: “The Flame went out due to a malfunctioning burner. It is not uncommon for a Flame to go out and this can happen for a number of reasons, for example, in extreme winds. We keep the Mother Flame in specially designed miners lanterns so if the flame does go out for some reason on the Relay we relight it from the source of the flame.”

The Cauldron was lit by seven promising young athletes, ending months of speculation as to who would be chosen.

Each athlete, chosen to represent the legacy of the Games, lit a copper petal which joined to light the cauldron.

They were nominated by British Olympic heroes Sir Steve Redgrave, Lynn Davies, Duncan Goodhew, Dame Kelly Holmes, Dame Mary Peters, Shirley Robertson and Daley Thompson.

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