Olympic Fire Blazes At Wembley : Smoke from the torch held by Cambridge "Blue" John Mark drifts up as he is about to kindle the fire which will burn throughout the period of the 1948 Olympic Games. His was the primilege of being the last runner to bear the flame on its hand-to-hand journey from the temple of Zeus in Greece. Watching him in this dramatic ***** the opening ceremony of the 1948 Olympics today, July 29, are 6000 assembled athletes of 58 countries and a crowd of 80,000 packing the sunlit stadium. July 29, 1948. (Photo by Associated Press Photo).