The modern Olympic flame has not been burning continuously since it was first introduced; it is re‑lit for each Games and kept burning only from the lighting ceremony in Olympia until the closing ceremony.

Quick Scoop: What’s Actually “Burning”?

  • The modern Olympic flame tradition began at the 1928 Amsterdam Games, where a cauldron was lit and kept burning for the duration of the Olympics.
  • The torch relay (carrying the flame from Olympia, Greece, to the host city) was added later for the 1936 Berlin Games.
  • For every edition of the Games, a new flame is lit in Olympia using the sun’s rays, then transported via relay to the host city and kept burning until the Games end.

So if you’re wondering “how long has the Olympic torch been burning” in a literal, unbroken way:

  • There is no single flame that has burned nonstop for decades or a century. Each Games has its own flame that lasts only for that Olympiad’s relay and competition period.

How Long Does It Burn Each Time?

Typical pattern for a Summer Games:

  1. Lighting in Olympia
    • Done a few months before the opening ceremony.
  1. Torch relay
    • Can last from a few days to over 4 months , depending on the host city’s route and plans.
 * Example:
   * Berlin 1936 relay: about **8 days**.

   * Athens 2004 relay: about **142 days**.

   * Some newer relays cover thousands of miles and many countries before arriving at the stadium.
  1. During the Games
    • The flame burns in the main cauldron from the opening ceremony until the closing ceremony—usually a little over two weeks.

Overall, for a given Summer Olympics, the “same” flame typically exists for roughly 1–4 months (relay + Games), then it is extinguished at the closing ceremony.

Does It Ever Go Out “By Accident”?

  • Yes, the torch sometimes goes out along the relay—wind, rain, or technical issues can do it.
  • When that happens, it is re‑lit from a backup flame that was itself lit in Olympia and kept in a special lamp, preserving the symbolic continuity.

Fun Context and Today’s Trend

  • The idea comes from ancient Greece , where a sacred flame burned during the ancient Olympics; the modern flame is a symbolic revival of that tradition rather than a literal unbroken fire from antiquity.
  • Before each modern Games (like Paris 2024), there’s usually renewed interest online and in forums about where the torch is, how far it’s traveled, and how long the relay will last.

In simple terms: every Olympics gets its own flame, born in Olympia, carried across countries, blazing over the stadium, and then respectfully extinguished when that chapter of the Games ends.

TL;DR:
The Olympic torch flame is not a single, centuries‑old fire. It is newly lit for each Games in Olympia, then kept burning through the relay and the duration of that particular Olympics—usually from several weeks to a few months total—before being extinguished at the closing ceremony.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.