Olympic Torch Lights Up Boston Auction

A very rare official 1968 Mexico City Olympics torch sold for $41,786 according to Boston’s RR Auction. The “Type 6” Olympic torch was found nearly 50 years after it was used in the Summer Games. Olympic researchers verified its authenticity with photographs. The Mexico City Games hold the honor of having the most styles of relay torches because of the faulty design of the original torch. In busy Barcelona on Sept. 1, 1968, Mariana Valls, son of the president of the Barcelona Athletics Federation, met Olympian Gregorio Rojo to pass the Olympic flame from one torch to another. At the moment of transfer, Rojo’s torch exploded, injuring both men. A safer, simpler torch called the “Type 6” was developed by the Spanish Olympic Committee and used during portions of the relay in Spain.