A raft of Olympic innovations

The Olympic flame forms a link between the ancient and modern Games, representing the positive values that humankind has always associated with fire and symbolising life, rationalism, freedom and inventiveness. Its lighting at Olympia and its delivery via a torch relay to the main arena at the Opening Ceremony has become an integral part of the spectacle of the Olympic Games.

Amsterdam 1928 was the first modern Games where a symbolic flame was lit – in a cauldron at the top of the Olympic Stadium’s Marathon Tower – though it was not until Berlin 1936 that the flame was carried all the way from Olympia. The flame was lit every evening of the Games of the IX Olympiad and extinguished in the morning by an official from the municipal energy board. Since then, the flame has burned throughout every Olympic Games, becoming one of the most recognisable symbols of the Games, along with the five Olympic rings.

Another first was the beginning of the long-term relationship between the Olympic Games and Coca-Cola, marked by the signing of the first sponsorship contract at Amsterdam 1928, and the soft drink’s entry into the Dutch market. Coca-Cola is now one of the select members of The Olympic Partners (TOP) programme, the highest level of Olympic sponsorship, which grants category-exclusive marketing rights to all Olympic events.

Coca-Cola’s Olympic legacy and the role played by the Netherlands in the Olympic Games’ longest sponsorship relationship are celebrated in the 1928 Room, an exhibition space at Amsterdam’s Olympic Stadium. The multifunctional hospitality space hosts meetings, presentations and press conferences, and features a sizable collection of memorabilia and a replica of a 1928 Coca-Cola kiosk in red, green and yellow, which were the drink’s official colours at the time.

Amsterdam also introduced small blue panels with a white capital "P" in the centre – the now universal parking sign. The Organising Committee created the sign to indicate parking areas for drivers and cyclists near the Olympic Stadium. The innovation provided a solution to difficulties experienced at previous Games. Spaces for 3,500 motor cars and around 2,000 bicycles were provided in a field close to the stadium, accommodating a total of 26,028 cars over the 37 days of the Games.

Amsterdam 1928 also saw the introduction of the first standardised athletics track, measuring 400m long and eight metres wide, the same dimensions as today’s running tracks.