"The organizers of Hitler's Olympics spared no expense on pageantry, and two of the most enduring symbols of the Games-- the torch relay and the rings-- were popularized by the Nazis. One of the chief architects of the Berlin Games, Carl Diem, dreamt up the torch relay from Greece to Berlin as a way to connect the Nazis to the ancient Greeks, whom Hitler claimed as ancient Aryan ancestors."

-- Ethan Trex, "The 15 Greatest Moments in Olympics History," Mental Floss, volume 7, issue 4, July-August 2008.