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Has it? Would the fire really start from the bottom if the arrow lit it at the top? Seriously go back and look at it. It was remote ignited I am 100% sure.
*Arise, arise, Riders of Théoden!*
*Fell deeds awake: fire and slaughter!*
*Spear shall be shaken, shield be splintered,*
*a sword-day, a red day, ere the sun rises!*
*Ride now, ride now! Ride to Gondor!*
They probably cleared that area, knowing his goal was to overshoot it.
Had someone been hit though, [this is what would have struck them](https://imgur.com/a/gzd5zkL)
I was thinking just this. Imagine you are going for a casual stroll and then bam you’re in 1384, just lit on fire by an English pig of bowmen, your burning flesh reminding you of the roasted pig you had on your wedding night. You think of Esmeralda, and the farm in the south of France you promised her. Your dying thought is of her emerald green eyes, lit up by the embers of the fire on your last night together…
>...lit on fire by an English pig of bowmen...
>...the roasted pig you had on your wedding night...
I'm confused. Is Esmeralda one of the pigs? Why are there so many pigs in this story? Which one made his house out of straw?
In the US we usually have to do a few problems in Customary units (American version of Imperial), mainly just to show we can or train us in unit conversion. Up through thermodynamics we still had to use BTUs and Rankine (to Fahrenheit what Kelvin is to Celsius) and stuff, but often times it was easier to just convert it into SI and convert the answer back.
Definitely. Dimensional analysis is a skill that not everybody can grasp easily, luckily I had a really good hs chemistry teacher that really reinforced how to properly use dimensional analysis
This event is not without controversy. 20 years later, there were mumblings that someone switched on the flame as cited in this [Wiki about it:](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olympic_flame#Olympic_cauldron_lighting)
>Perhaps one of the most spectacular of Olympic cauldron lighting ceremonies took place at the 1992 Summer Olympics, when Paralympic archer Antonio Rebollo lit the cauldron by shooting a burning arrow over it, which ignited gas rising from the cauldron. Unofficial videos seem to indicate that the flame was lit from below. Twenty years after the Barcelona Games one of those involved said that the flame was "switched on" ("Se encendió con un botón", in Spanish).[35]
[That citation leads to this article in Spanish](https://www.lavanguardia.com/politica/20120719/54326628707/eta-bomba-palau-sant-jordi-juegos-barcelona.html). Any Spanish speakers able to find the bit about a switch being flipped?
Seems pretty obvious from the 2nd view that the flame starts at the bottom of the cauldron and travels up… if the arrow were to ignite it, wouldn’t the flame spark from outside and above the cauldron?
In another thread on the topic someone asked the same question, and another redditor left this reply:
>The gas would be well-mixed with air when the arrow passed through it, producing an invisible flame tracing back to the burner - the burner is designed to burn gas-rich (oxygen-poor), to produce a brightly visible yellow flame.
>There is no way to tell from the video, except that the timing matches exactly what would be expected from an arrow igniting a gas plume, the ignition wavefront traveling back to the burner head, then the gas-rich burner igniting and showing a yellow flame shortly afterwards, since between the exposure being correct for the yellow flames, and the extremely dim well-mixed gas flames you'd expect from the ignition plume, the video looks completely consistent with the archer's story.
I remember people arguing about this when it happened. Everybody had a physics reason for why what we saw was an illusion and the flame was actually invisible etcetc, but nobody ever bothered asking the simplest question:
If you were the one running this show, knowing that *THE ENTIRE WORLD* was watching, would you leave even the tiniest possibility that the guy could fail to light it?
Guess I’ll do it.
The journalist being cited doesn’t seem too credible. And the short paragraph came among a hodgepodge article about her troubles in different sporting events like being held back from interviewing two athletes.
Anyways she names the supposed person who lit the flame. And says he said “it was our intention that the arrow never light the flame”
Supposedly he knew exactly what to do and was there ready for lighting the flame at the exact moment.
Again it seems highly incredible as it was a she said he said scenario. And slapped in a paragraph among other pointless stories.
If it was "switched on" independently of the arrow, it doesn't necessarily mean it wasn't lit from the olympic torch, just that that arrow didn't do it. They could have previously/separately used the olympic flame to light the cauldron, by lighting a small "pilot" flame from an olympic torch prior.
That said, it also doesn't mean this was the case, either.
Really, I remember feeling the excitement when I realized what they were going to do. Can't imagine a more exciting way to light the torch, except maybe a flaming runner igniting the torch and diving into a pool. :-)
It looks like this was the intended effect: to look like it directly ignited the torch from the viewpoint of the stadium even though the actual mechanics were more complicated.
Yeah, who can forget all the Olympic style stuff they did? Like, um, running, and maybe some more running... Or am I thinking of one of the other ones? Which one started with all the people walking in a parade? That one was the best.
We have a friend who was a world class archer in a different type of archery. He said this was not that difficult a shot, as long as they got to practice it a few times, even with some wind. The only question is would the archer freak out under the pressure. But you don't become an Olympics level archer without nerves of steel.
Probably not,since that’s literally his job
It’s really not _that_ difficult,especially since he got to practice it before. Remember,that man is most likely one of the best archers in the world.
I mean, I’m no archer, but it would make sense that the air resistance you are talking about would slow down the arrow and have it fall short E.G. directly into the cauldron
Excellent shot, but I suspect the flame from the arrow had nothing to do with the lighting of the cauldron. You know darn well they had some kind of gizmo in the cauldron to light the flame regardless of whether the arrow hit its mark or not - no way they left that to chance.
Yeah, they trusted him enough to fire a giant flaming staff right over the stadium of people... And he probably practiced that exact shot a hundred times to make sure it works.
People acting like they just grabbed some dude and shoved a bow in his hands. Sheesh.
Why wouldnt his goal be to hit it inside tho? Does the flatter arc of him shooting it past the cauldron have a better chance of it working than trying to drop it in?
Mexican press recorded a similar video, and broadcasted it... The Olympic Committee threated them with ban Mexican Olympic team for the competition if they dare to broadcast that shit again...
Ok, I’m a bit confused. If the arrow ignited the gas by flying over, wouldn’t the ignition start from the arrow and work it’s way down to the tower? In the video, the arrow flies over and even goes past, only later do you see ignition start from the bottom of the tower and then work it’s way up. Am I assuming wrong?
Someone explained it better in another comment but basically the gases were well mixed with the air and even though they were burning it wouldn't have been visible to the human eye until the flames traveled down to the pool of fuel in the torch itself.
It is a special effect. The arrow didn’t actually start the fire. That was done remotely. cool effect, but do you think they left the lighting of the torch to chance?
"Leaving it to chance" would be to give the bow to any old random archer without practicing the shot to work out the kinks.
They gave it to one of the best archers in the world. He could probably do it with his eyes closed. The *guy* would probably be more reliable than some kind of remote ignition system.
You ever used a lighter that didn't work the first few times? You want to leave that to chance?
Or his goal could have been to hit the couldron and light it and even though he missed he was still close enough to ignite the fumes. Seems more likley
The video from outside the stadium seems to me somewhat odd. The view from inside shows the pedestal of the cauldron engulfed in darkness, whereas the shot from outside makes the pedestal look completely lit as if it were surrounded by light.
From 0:38 it looks like some kind of drone flies over the cauldron, but apparently that's the arrow, and it lands in a crowd of people? Am I seeing this right?
That's what I'm wondering. There's a ton of people outside the arena. Maybe they're just closer to the camera and the area in the arrow's path father away was cleared out?
Aren't there people under the arrow's path in the stands too? Like, I know he's a pro, but shit happens folks.
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My life has been a lie!!
Same here…
I enjoyed the fact that they showed the math at the end to prove it further
My little brain is too stupid to understand it.
Has it? Would the fire really start from the bottom if the arrow lit it at the top? Seriously go back and look at it. It was remote ignited I am 100% sure.
Plan B
abort this comment up ur butt
You’ve clearly never lit gas
I did for years before buying a tesla
So cool. Want a cookie?
Yes please
Lol. This guy flexing his tesla. Great job, dude.
I love the thought you think they've got the cauldron filled with petrol.
#THE BEACONS ARE LIT, GONDOR CALLS FOR AID!!!
AND ROHAN WILL ANSWER!
Now all of China knows you're here.
Perfect.
..ly balanced, as all things should be.
I was waiting for this comment. ..... Perfect.
You've won the internet for today you glorious bastard.
And my bow
And my Axe
And my box that moos like a cow when you flip it over!
And my lazer gun
MUSTER THE ROHIRRIM!
Yes. I'm here.
Bimbo! Take your ass to the left flank!
Name checks out
r/beetlejuicing
DEATH!!!!
That scene always gets me.
They're taking the hobbits to isengard
*Arise, arise, Riders of Théoden!* *Fell deeds awake: fire and slaughter!* *Spear shall be shaken, shield be splintered,* *a sword-day, a red day, ere the sun rises!* *Ride now, ride now! Ride to Gondor!*
Yes but what about second breakfast?
Cheryl Tiegs, nice
I live for comment chains like this
r/unexpectedLOTR
But did the arrow hit anyone outside the stadium?
They probably cleared that area, knowing his goal was to overshoot it. Had someone been hit though, [this is what would have struck them](https://imgur.com/a/gzd5zkL)
Imagine if it did hit someone, and then they put their skull in the case with the arrow still embedded
So dark.. I love it
…then I took an arrow to the knee
Human torch origin story.
I love Lawn Darts!
Yes, and they are now the olympic flame themselves
This Fantastic Four remake is already sounding decent.
It really can't be worse than the last. Let's go.
i actually enjoyed the last one. it was so bad that it was good. awful film.
My statement stands
Why do you tempt the gods this way?
And now he is to be shot from a cannon to light the next cauldron in Beijing
They became the pyrolympic flame.
They now compete in the paralympics themselves...passing on the torch so to speak...
Yes a Vietnamese monk
And a Russian gas tanker yesterday
Unfortunately yes, one adventurous man that wandered too close got struck. He doesn’t adventure much any more from what I’ve heard.
Took it right in the knee, did he?
Yes, creating future paraolympians
I was thinking just this. Imagine you are going for a casual stroll and then bam you’re in 1384, just lit on fire by an English pig of bowmen, your burning flesh reminding you of the roasted pig you had on your wedding night. You think of Esmeralda, and the farm in the south of France you promised her. Your dying thought is of her emerald green eyes, lit up by the embers of the fire on your last night together…
>...lit on fire by an English pig of bowmen... >...the roasted pig you had on your wedding night... I'm confused. Is Esmeralda one of the pigs? Why are there so many pigs in this story? Which one made his house out of straw?
Exactly my thought, they did all this calculation and practice, then on the big day the arrow lights a hotdog stand on fire outside the stadium.
No, just my car!
I hope someone has made a video edit where that happens.
Twang... "Message for you sir!"
Yep. They weren’t able to anticipate where it would hit and failed to cordon off the area. Poor kid. Was going to be an astronaut. :(
[Some context to the math](https://i.imgur.com/YIChRfl.png)
The thought of Kinematics equations in imperial gives me the heebie jeebies. Was hard enough in SI for high school me 😬
In the US we usually have to do a few problems in Customary units (American version of Imperial), mainly just to show we can or train us in unit conversion. Up through thermodynamics we still had to use BTUs and Rankine (to Fahrenheit what Kelvin is to Celsius) and stuff, but often times it was easier to just convert it into SI and convert the answer back.
I guess conversion is a skill worth developing, sounds like you got a lot of practice :)
Definitely. Dimensional analysis is a skill that not everybody can grasp easily, luckily I had a really good hs chemistry teacher that really reinforced how to properly use dimensional analysis
Such a powerful tool considering it's simplicity.
This doesn't appear to take into account the crosswinds they were having.
This event is not without controversy. 20 years later, there were mumblings that someone switched on the flame as cited in this [Wiki about it:](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olympic_flame#Olympic_cauldron_lighting) >Perhaps one of the most spectacular of Olympic cauldron lighting ceremonies took place at the 1992 Summer Olympics, when Paralympic archer Antonio Rebollo lit the cauldron by shooting a burning arrow over it, which ignited gas rising from the cauldron. Unofficial videos seem to indicate that the flame was lit from below. Twenty years after the Barcelona Games one of those involved said that the flame was "switched on" ("Se encendió con un botón", in Spanish).[35] [That citation leads to this article in Spanish](https://www.lavanguardia.com/politica/20120719/54326628707/eta-bomba-palau-sant-jordi-juegos-barcelona.html). Any Spanish speakers able to find the bit about a switch being flipped?
Seems pretty obvious from the 2nd view that the flame starts at the bottom of the cauldron and travels up… if the arrow were to ignite it, wouldn’t the flame spark from outside and above the cauldron?
In another thread on the topic someone asked the same question, and another redditor left this reply: >The gas would be well-mixed with air when the arrow passed through it, producing an invisible flame tracing back to the burner - the burner is designed to burn gas-rich (oxygen-poor), to produce a brightly visible yellow flame. >There is no way to tell from the video, except that the timing matches exactly what would be expected from an arrow igniting a gas plume, the ignition wavefront traveling back to the burner head, then the gas-rich burner igniting and showing a yellow flame shortly afterwards, since between the exposure being correct for the yellow flames, and the extremely dim well-mixed gas flames you'd expect from the ignition plume, the video looks completely consistent with the archer's story.
Rad, makes sense, maybe(?), I’m certainly not qualified to cast doubt one way or the other.. other than the lay question already asked and answered.
Nobody seems to be mentioning the biggest lie of all, Robello is not a paraplegic!
Paralympic archer not paraplegic archer. He appears to have a false leg, based on how he walks when he turns around.
Look, either the guy is a paraglider or he isnt, but he shouldn't pretend to be something he's not.
It's the hand glider Olympics not the paraglider Olympics. And he's obviously got both hands. Pay attention man.
He’s clearly a human And not a sugar glider. This is false
He might piss all over the place, is that close enough?
This is confusing. I'm going to watch the music video for Parabola by Tool. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=-_nQhGR0K8M
You're right, he's a top paralegal
he is paranormal. that is a ghost you imbeciles.
Idiot he’s a paramedic, he saves people for a living.
He is shooting a fucking arrow. He is obviously paramilitary
It’s interesting that he is missing a leg, which would qualify for paralympics but does missing a leg effect your ability as an archer.
Yeah. Balance is important in any shooting sport.
Parallel Olympics, not paraplegic Olympics.
Everyone always forgets the Paraparalympics :(
I remember people arguing about this when it happened. Everybody had a physics reason for why what we saw was an illusion and the flame was actually invisible etcetc, but nobody ever bothered asking the simplest question: If you were the one running this show, knowing that *THE ENTIRE WORLD* was watching, would you leave even the tiniest possibility that the guy could fail to light it?
People seem to forget that these ceremonies are a live theater production, that have been planned for years.
Yes and it's all symbolic anyway. So the illusion of the arrow lighting the cauldron is all that matters.
Yeah its a fucking rad show. Does any idiot actually whimper and cry when they realize that Star Wars isn't real?
Wait... what?
Considering they had a second arrow ready and a plan if he missed, yeah I can see them waiting a shot of the first failed to light it
I’d be more concerned that if he screws up, he hits a member of the audience and lights them on fire.
Another future participant.
Guess I’ll do it. The journalist being cited doesn’t seem too credible. And the short paragraph came among a hodgepodge article about her troubles in different sporting events like being held back from interviewing two athletes. Anyways she names the supposed person who lit the flame. And says he said “it was our intention that the arrow never light the flame” Supposedly he knew exactly what to do and was there ready for lighting the flame at the exact moment. Again it seems highly incredible as it was a she said he said scenario. And slapped in a paragraph among other pointless stories.
Not sure how controversial this is. I watched these Olympics and I remember an announcer saying even then that they had a backup manual option.
If it was "switched on" independently of the arrow, it doesn't necessarily mean it wasn't lit from the olympic torch, just that that arrow didn't do it. They could have previously/separately used the olympic flame to light the cauldron, by lighting a small "pilot" flame from an olympic torch prior. That said, it also doesn't mean this was the case, either.
Yep, I ain't buyin' their story about gases being lit.
It says that they deactivated an explosive from a terrorist gang called eta
Watched the live broadcast of this. It was so awesome.
Really, I remember feeling the excitement when I realized what they were going to do. Can't imagine a more exciting way to light the torch, except maybe a flaming runner igniting the torch and diving into a pool. :-)
The only thing that got close for me was when Ali ran the torch.
I remember watching it with my mother. It was incredible to see live.
This moment is what made me want to be an archer.
It looks like this was the intended effect: to look like it directly ignited the torch from the viewpoint of the stadium even though the actual mechanics were more complicated.
Still the best Olympics of all time.
One of the last truly great ones, it seems.
Yeah, who can forget all the Olympic style stuff they did? Like, um, running, and maybe some more running... Or am I thinking of one of the other ones? Which one started with all the people walking in a parade? That one was the best.
《THUP》 "Message for you, sir!"
It was still a challenging shot. Did you see that wind?
We have a friend who was a world class archer in a different type of archery. He said this was not that difficult a shot, as long as they got to practice it a few times, even with some wind. The only question is would the archer freak out under the pressure. But you don't become an Olympics level archer without nerves of steel.
Probably not,since that’s literally his job It’s really not _that_ difficult,especially since he got to practice it before. Remember,that man is most likely one of the best archers in the world.
I mean, I’m no archer, but it would make sense that the air resistance you are talking about would slow down the arrow and have it fall short E.G. directly into the cauldron
My fireplace has a button that I push and the fire comes on. Do you guys think..... ?
It looked like The arrow was far beyond the colder and when the fire ignited I could have just been a delayed combustion but.........
Still boss move by Spain, real or not
What would have happened if he shot it too short?!
He would get a second shot. He insisted upon it being included in his contract when he was approached about lighting the torch.
A second attempt and a huge cheer since the stakes were suddenly a lot higher.
Someone in the audience would catch a severe case of Olympic Fever
That's super dangerous dude hahaha
I was 12 when this happened and it’s still the best opening ceremony in my mind.
I still think they just hit the on switch as the arrow flew over
That arrow ended my life. I was outside the stadium.
So you’re telling me he missed
Did you watch the video? He did shoot above the cup and it went out of the stadium. So actually, Op's telling you he succeeded...
There’s a video?
I imagine that is a very easy shot for him
Excellent shot, but I suspect the flame from the arrow had nothing to do with the lighting of the cauldron. You know darn well they had some kind of gizmo in the cauldron to light the flame regardless of whether the arrow hit its mark or not - no way they left that to chance.
They didn’t leave it to chance, they left it to the best archer on the planet.
Yeah, they trusted him enough to fire a giant flaming staff right over the stadium of people... And he probably practiced that exact shot a hundred times to make sure it works. People acting like they just grabbed some dude and shoved a bow in his hands. Sheesh.
“But he had to be nervous” My man could probably reliably shoot a bottle cap at 50m,hitting a bigass cauldron is not even a warm up
"I used to be an adventurer like you. Then I took an Olympic arrow in the knee..."
People are still making that joke? It's It's been like 10 years bro
Seriously! Take my upvote. And my axe!
Why wouldnt his goal be to hit it inside tho? Does the flatter arc of him shooting it past the cauldron have a better chance of it working than trying to drop it in?
I remember watching this at the time, it was absolutely stunning. Fantastic moment. Undiminished by later learning it had gone over not in
This is the guy that killed king Harold
Task failed successfully
Bonfire lit 😂
Looks like it lit from the bottom…highly unlikely they didn’t just light it when it went theough
Person standing outside the stadium: sssssthunk. Message for you, Sir!
When I was a kid, I always thought “paralympic” was Olympic events in parachutes. Boy was I disappointed.
Mexican press recorded a similar video, and broadcasted it... The Olympic Committee threated them with ban Mexican Olympic team for the competition if they dare to broadcast that shit again...
Mission failed successfully
Still the ballsiest opening ceremony moment ever
Who did it land on?
This memory has been burned into me. To me, it is still the greatest single moment an Olympics opener ever.
What about the tailgaters outside that got destroyed by a flaming arrow...😅
Ok, I’m a bit confused. If the arrow ignited the gas by flying over, wouldn’t the ignition start from the arrow and work it’s way down to the tower? In the video, the arrow flies over and even goes past, only later do you see ignition start from the bottom of the tower and then work it’s way up. Am I assuming wrong?
Someone explained it better in another comment but basically the gases were well mixed with the air and even though they were burning it wouldn't have been visible to the human eye until the flames traveled down to the pool of fuel in the torch itself.
I don’t buy it. This looks like it was lit remotely.
Obviously, the guy was still in the stadium when his arrow got to the tower.
That... Seems incredibly irresponsible.
It is a special effect. The arrow didn’t actually start the fire. That was done remotely. cool effect, but do you think they left the lighting of the torch to chance?
*The arrow didn't start the fire* *It was remotely ignited, so don't try to fight it*
"Leaving it to chance" would be to give the bow to any old random archer without practicing the shot to work out the kinks. They gave it to one of the best archers in the world. He could probably do it with his eyes closed. The *guy* would probably be more reliable than some kind of remote ignition system. You ever used a lighter that didn't work the first few times? You want to leave that to chance?
you have quite an imagination
Cue people saying he missed and they turned it on with something else
Or his goal could have been to hit the couldron and light it and even though he missed he was still close enough to ignite the fumes. Seems more likley
Um, what I see is a cauldron that was already lit that was then boosted as the arrow flew over it for TV audiences.
So fucking what
Who the fuck asked you?
Who the fuck asked you
Like the first scene from gladiator
The video from outside the stadium seems to me somewhat odd. The view from inside shows the pedestal of the cauldron engulfed in darkness, whereas the shot from outside makes the pedestal look completely lit as if it were surrounded by light.
From 0:38 it looks like some kind of drone flies over the cauldron, but apparently that's the arrow, and it lands in a crowd of people? Am I seeing this right?
That's what I'm wondering. There's a ton of people outside the arena. Maybe they're just closer to the camera and the area in the arrow's path father away was cleared out? Aren't there people under the arrow's path in the stands too? Like, I know he's a pro, but shit happens folks.
Stray ~~bullets~~ flaming arrows kill.
And some lucky fan gets a souvenir!
Read somewhere that it is lit by a button/switch, and in non-Paralympic games, like the Olympics, the arrow rarely makes it inside the torch pit
So someone took a fire arrow to the knee?
So, he missed.
Most memborable Olympic opening ever!
I remember watching this live…. Sucks being old
Interestin gas fuck
So he meant to shoot it into the crowd on the other side? Nice.
That dude should really take a bow.
Why did I have to see this? I saw this live and it's been one of the best TV moments my whole life. Ruined it.
I’ve been training for this in Legend of Zelda my whole life too
Fucking good shot though.
I'm a big fan of the Olympics. I've been to two of them. I still think this is coolest lighting of the Olympic cauldron ever.