Fire in Water

July 8: A flame moved through water! Unbelievable?
But it is true.

This was the Olympic flame. It was carried under water last week.

Why, one would ask. Because the games are being held in Sydney this year. The Olympic Games are held once in four years. And each time it is held, the Olympic flame is lit in Athens, the birthplace of the games, and carried to the venue of the games.

This year, since the games are in Sydney, the organisers thought of an interesting way to carry the torch to the venue. They designed a torch with a fuel system that could be carried under water.

And the torch travelled under the Great Barrier Reef to reach Sydney. Yes, very much like this picture shows. A small report appeared on this in ‘The Asian Age’ recently.

The Sydney 2000 Olympic Torch was inspired by the Sydney Opera House, the blue waters of the Pacific Ocean and the curve of the boomerang. And the design of the torch has three layers which represent the earth, fire and water. The torch weighs just over 1 kg. and is 72 cms. long.

Another interesting thing about the torch is that is environment friendly. The fuel can inside the torch and the leftover fuel can be recycled.

223 words | 2 minutes
Readability: Grade 4 (9-10 year old children)
Based on Flesch–Kincaid readability scores

Filed under: world news
Tags: #olympics, #flame, #sydney

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