Mexico City Olympic Torch
The relay to the new world mexico city 1968.
Mexico city olympic torch. The following day the flame began the final leg of its journey from teotihuacan to mexico city. The 1968 summer olympics spanish. As the celebration of the olympic games has evolved so has the olympic torch relay. One torch was taken to the national museum of anthropology one of the cultural olympiad sites.
A second torch was taken by plane to the site of the sailing competitions in acapulco. Boston mass an exceedingly rare official 1968 mexico city olympics torch sold for 41 786 according to boston based rr auction. At the end of the relay the olympic cauldron was for the. The discovery of the type 6 olympic torch occurred nearly 50 years after the 1968 summer games when olympic researchers used photographic evidence to certify its existence and very necessary creation.
The modes of transport have slowly become more and more diversified not only for practical reasons but also to showcase the particularities of the regions crossed. The reason for the existence of more than one type of torch in 1968 was the poor design of the original torch combined with the ill chosen fuel mix that was used. The 1968 summer olympics torch relay took part as part of the build up to the 1968 summer olympics hosted in mexico city mexico the olympic flame was lit in olympia greece and retraced the steps of christopher columbus pillager of the new world this theme celebrated the link between latin american and mediterranean civilizations. This is the subject of this article.
When the flame arrived in mexico city on the morning of the opening ceremony on 12 october two torches were lit from it. These were the first olympic games to be staged in latin america and the first to be staged in a spanish speaking country. 12 1968 file photo mexican hurdler enriqueta basilio the first woman to make the final run of the torch and to light the olympic flame carries the olympic torch up the. Olympic games torch relay 1968 mexico city.
In addition to the 1968 torch the sale also featured several gold medals from the olympics ranging from 1908 1988. Juegos olĂmpicos de verano de 1968 officially known as the games of the xix olympiad was an international multi sport event held in mexico city mexico from 12 to 27 october. The new design later arrived safely in mexico city for the olympic games. A torch from the 1952 winter olympics in oslo also sold during the auction.
The 1968 olympic torch relay was unique because of the number of different torch models that were used on the route from ancient olympia to mexico city.