There is a tremendous cool piece of sports activities historical past going up on the market … one of many rarest Olympic torches ever made is hitting the public sale block.
Get a load of this … the official torch from the 1960 Winter Olympics in Squaw Valley, CA goes to be bought to the best bidder this month through RR Public sale … and it is anticipated to fetch not less than $500,000.
This Olympic torch was designed by legendary Disney Imagineer John Hench … and it options 3 Olympic ring cutouts across the bowl, with a round legend studying, “VIII Olympic Winter Games.”
The torch can be emblazoned with the Squaw Valley Video games emblem between two branches … plus one other legend studying, “Olympia To Squaw Valley,” signifying the torch’s deliberate route from Greece to California.
Of us who had been round again then might recall … the torch was really lit in Norway — the Olympic Committee botched the lighting ceremony in Greece — and was transported by automobile to Oslo after which Copenhagen, the place it was placed on a airplane and flown to Los Angeles.
As soon as in California, the torch runners relayed it north by way of Bakersfield, Fresno, Stockton, San Francisco and Sacramento earlier than arriving in Squaw Valley.
Workforce USA skier Andrew Mead Lawrence, accompanied by 8 members of the Nationwide Ski Patrol, carried the torch on the Opening Ceremony … and the flame was handed to skater Kenneth Charles Henry, who did a lap across the ice at Blyth Memorial Enviornment earlier than igniting the cauldron during which the flame would burn all through the Video games.
Greater than 64 years later, the torch’s burner wick stays intact … although there may be some minor scuffing on the bowl and deal with.
After the Sport, the California state worker who was accountable for the protection of the torch runners held on to the torch … and now it is about to vary fingers.
Bidding ends July 18 … a couple of week earlier than the beginning of the 2024 Summer time Olympics in Paris.
