2024 Olympics Torch and Torchbearer’s Uniform Sell at Auction
The sale’s big-ticket item, a torch from the 1960 Winter Games, did not end up selling
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With the Summer Games slated to kick off in Paris on Friday, the Olympics are a hot topic. That buzz extends to Olympic memorabilia: Last week, a torch and torchbearer’s uniform from the 2024 Games fetched $45,549 at auction.
RR Auctions sold these items along with nearly 400 other pieces of Olympic memorabilia, including medals, pins, badges, posters, programs and tickets.
The sale “underscores the growing anticipation and excitement for the upcoming Summer Olympics in Paris,” says Bobby Livingston, the auction house’s executive vice president, in a statement. “We take great pride in connecting collectors with these extraordinary pieces of Olympic history, and the enthusiasm and engagement from bidders reflect the global passion for the Games.”
This year’s Olympic torch relay began on April 16, when an actress playing a “high priestess” lit the flame at a ceremony in Olympia, Greece. Since then, torchbearers in uniforms have been carrying the flame through Greece, Monaco and France. It will arrive at the opening ceremony in Paris this week.
About 2,000 torches were created for the Paris Games. The recently sold torch and uniform had belonged to a private collector, who acquired them after the relay passed through Athens, Greece, in late April.
Made from recycled steel, the 27.5-inch-long torch was designed by Mathieu Lehanneur, who “[drew] inspiration from three themes of Paris 2024: equality, water and peacefulness,” per the lot listing. The size XL uniform included a long-sleeve runner’s jersey and athletic pants, both bearing Olympic emblems.
Other items that sold include a gold medal for the 4-by-400-meter relay from the 2012 Summer Games in London, a torch from the 1980 Winter Games in Lake Placid, and a gold medal for gymnastics from the 1904 Summer Games in St. Louis.
One of the most highly anticipated objects was a rare torch from the 1960 Winter Games. It was expected to fetch as much as $500,000—but it didn’t end up selling at all. According to the auction house, the item didn’t reach the reserve price set by the consignor.
The 1960 torch was designed by John Hench for the Olympics in Squaw Valley, California, which has since been renamed Olympic Valley. (In recent years, many other sites have also removed the racist slur from their names.)
Hench, a Disney “Imagineer,” landed the gig because Walt Disney served as the chairman of the pageantry committee, which organized the torch relay. His final masterpiece is a 19-inch-long torch made of silver aluminum. The slender bowl that sits atop the handle features three cut-outs of the five Olympic rings, as well as the words “VIII Olympic Winter Games” and “Olympia to Squaw Valley.” The bowl also has the 1960 Olympic emblem framed by two branches.
The torch was supposed to start its journey in Olympia, as is customary for Olympic torch relays. But organizers ran out of time and could not hold a lighting ceremony there. Instead, the torch was lit in Morgedal, Norway, and then driven by car to Copenhagen. From there, it was flown to Los Angeles, where relay runners transported it up through California.
Finally, skier Andrea Mead Lawrence and eight members of the National Ski Patrol passed the torch to speed skater Kenneth Henry—who became the first American Olympic athlete to light the flame during the opening ceremony.
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