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See Photos of the First Woman to Finish the Olympic Torch Relay

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Enriqueta Basilio Waving on Olympic Grounds 1968
Enriqueta Basilio, 20, will be the first woman in history to carry the Olympic torch on its last leg and ignite the Olympic flame for the 1968 October game in Mexico City. Enriqueta, Mexico's 80-meter hurdle record-holder is shown here rehearsing on July 22, 1968 in Mexico City, MexicoBettmann—Corbis
By Lily Rothman and Liz Ronk

On Thursday, in the city of Olympia in Greece, the Olympic torch will be lit so that it can begin its journey toward Rio. Over the course of about three months, more than 10,000 people will help the torch make its way to the Olympic Games. And none of the people in that chain are more visible than the one who comes last and is given the honor of lighting the Olympic cauldron on Aug. 5.

In 1968 that honor was particularly notable, as Enriqueta Basilio became the first woman ever to complete the Olympic torch relay when she lit the cauldron to begin the Mexico City games. “Some 40,000 balloons soared aloft, and 6,000 pigeons fluttered skyward,” TIME reported the following week. “The blazing torch arrived—borne for the first time by a woman, Mexico’s 20-year-old Norma Enriqueta Basilio Sotelo—to end a 10,000-mile odyssey that started at Olympia. After a final 21-gun salute, the games of the XIX Olympiad were officially under way.”

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Basilio was less successful on the track. She competed in the 400 m., the 100-m. relay and the 80-m hurdles, but only made it to the first heat in her events.

Enriqueta Basilio Waving on Olympic Grounds 1968
Enriqueta Basilio, 20, will be the first woman in history to carry the Olympic torch on its last leg and ignite the Olympic flame for the 1968 October game in Mexico City. Enriqueta, Mexico's 80-meter hurdle record-holder is shown here rehearsing on July 22, 1968 in Mexico City, MexicoBettmann—Corbis
Enriqueta Basilio, a participating athlete at the Olympic Games, is the first woman to light the Olympic Flame. Mexico City, 1968.
Enriqueta Basilio, a participating athlete at the Olympic Games, is the first woman to light the Olympic Flame. Mexico City, 1968. Mondadori Portfolio—Getty Images
Lighting The Olympic Flame 1968, by Enriqueta Basilio
Mexican hurdler Enriqueta Basilio carries the Olympic torch to the cauldron during the opening ceremony of the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City, Mexico, Oct. 12, 1968. The flame was lit in Olympia, Greece, and retraced the voyage of Columbus to the New World. Bride Lane Library/Popperfoto—Getty Images
Mexico XIX Olympic Games Opening
Mexican athlete Norma Enriqueta Basilio, last carrier of the Olympic torch, is pictured a moment before lighting the Olympic Cauldron, during the opening of the 19th Olympic games in Mexico City, Mexico, Oct. 12, 1968. Kurt Strumpf—AP Photo
Mexico XIX Olympic Games Opening
Mexican athlete Norma Enriqueta Basilio last carrier of the Olympic torch is pictured lighting the Olympic Cauldron, during the opening of the 19th Olymic games in Mexico City, Mexico, Oct. 12, 1968. Kurt Strumpf—AP Photo
Mexico XIX Olympic Games Opening
Mexican athlete Norma Enriqueta Basilio last carrier of the Olympic torch is pictured a moment after lighting the Olympic Cauldron, during the opening of the 19th Olympic games in Mexico City, Mexico, Oct. 12, 1968.Kurt Strumpf—AP Photo

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Write to Lily Rothman at lily.rothman@time.com