The Ancient Greeks held a \"lampadedromia\" (the Greek wordfor Torch Relay), where athletes competed by passing on theFlame in a relay race to the finish line. In ancient Athens the ritualwas performed during the Panathenaia fest, held every four yearsin honour of the goddess Athena. The strength and purity of thesacred Flame was preserved through its transportation by the quic-kest means; in this case a relay of Torchbearers. Forty youthsfrom the ten Athenian tribes had to run a distance of 2.5 kilometersin total.