The 1968 Summer Olympics torch relay took part as part of the build-up to the

1968 Summer Olympics The 1968 Summer Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 1968), officially known as the Games of the XIX Olympiad ( es, Juegos de la XIX Olimpiada) and commonly known as Mexico 1968 ( es, México 1968), were an international multi-sport eve ...

hosted in

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley o ...

, Mexico. The

Olympic flame The Olympic flame is a symbol used in the Olympic movement. It is also a symbol of continuity between ancient and modern games. Several months before the Olympic Games, the Olympic flame is lit at Olympia, Greece. This ceremony starts the Olympic ...

was lit in

Olympia, Greece Olympia ( el, label=Modern Greek, Ολυμπία ; grc, Ὀλυμπία ), officially Archaia Olympia ( el, label=Modern Greek, Αρχαία Ολυμπία; grc, Ἀρχαία Ὀλυμπία, links=no; "Ancient Olympia"), is a small town in E ...

, and retraced the steps of

Christopher Columbus Christopher Columbus * lij, Cristoffa C(or)ombo * es, link=no, Cristóbal Colón * pt, Cristóvão Colombo * ca, Cristòfor (or ) * la, Christophorus Columbus. (; born between 25 August and 31 October 1451, died 20 May 1506) was a ...

, discoverer of the

New World The term ''New World'' is often used to mean the majority of Earth's Western Hemisphere, specifically the Americas."America." ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (). McArthur, Tom, ed., 1992. New York: Oxford University Press, p. 3 ...

. This theme celebrated the link between Latin-American and Mediterranean civilizations. At the end of the relay the Olympic cauldron was for the first time lit by a female athlete. Mexican hurdler

Enriqueta Basilio Norma Enriqueta "Queta" Basilio Sotelo (15 July 1948 – 26 October 2019), was a Mexican track and field athlete. She was born in Mexicali, capital of Baja California. She came from an athletic family; her father was a cotton farmer. Her Pol ...

was chosen to complete the final leg of the 2,500 km running relay. The torch had covered a total distance of 13,620 km including the crossing of the Atlantic Ocean. While the relay was largely successful it was marred by problems when exchanging the flame from one torch to another. Runners in

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

and

Medinaceli Medinaceli () is a municipality and town in the province of Soria, in Castile and León, Spain. The municipality includes other villages like Torralba del Moral. Etymology Its name derives from the Arabic 'madīnat salīm', which was named afte ...

were burned by small explosions as a lit torch came into contact with an unlit one.

Relay elements

Torch

American sculptor James Metcalf, an

expatriate An expatriate (often shortened to expat) is a person who resides outside their native country. In common usage, the term often refers to educated professionals, skilled workers, or artists taking positions outside their home country, either ...

, won the commission to forge the torch for the Games. There were two torch designs used throughout the relay: Type A and Type B. The Type B torch was designed to follow the theme of the logo. It is grooved along its length and features a three-dimensional "MEXICO 68" at the top. It is kept at a Spanish private club,

Real Sociedad de Tenis de la Magdalena The Real Sociedad de Tenis de la Magdalena (; "Royal Society of Tennis of la Magdalena"), commonly known as El Tenis de Santander and familiarly as El Tenis, is a private country club based in Santander, Cantabria, Spain. Founded by king Alfonso ...

Santander Santander may refer to: Places * Santander, Spain, a port city and capital of the autonomous community of Cantabria, Spain * Santander Department, a department of Colombia * Santander State, former state of Colombia * Santander de Quilichao, a m ...

, Spain. The torch used as a fuel source a compressed mix of nitrates, sulphur, alkaline metal carbonates, resins and silicones. It burned with a red-yellow flame. Problems with the torch occurred in

and then again in

which saw minor explosions burn some torch-bearers. The cause was investigated and then attributed to "the too-rapid contact of a lighted torch with an unlighted one". Precautions were put in place to prevent further incidents.

Torch-bearers

For the first time runners from different nations took part in the relay. In each previous torch relay the

National Olympic Committee A National Olympic Committee (NOC) is a national constituent of the worldwide Olympic movement. Subject to the controls of the International Olympic Committee, NOCs are responsible for organizing their people's participation in the Olympic Games ...

(NOC) for the host nation provided all the torch-bearers, but for this event each country through which the torch passed was allowed to select their own representatives.

Route

The route was designed to replicate that taken by Christopher Columbus in his first visit to the New World. Three locations were seen as key to the route: *

Genoa Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the List of cities in Italy, sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian ce ...

, Italy – The birthplace of Christopher Columbus *

Palos de la Frontera Palos de la Frontera () is a town and municipality located in the southwestern Spanish province of Huelva, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. It is situated some from the provincial capital, Huelva. According to the 2015 census, the city ...

, Spain – The port from which Columbus sailed *The island of

San Salvador San Salvador (; ) is the capital and the largest city of El Salvador and its eponymous department. It is the country's political, cultural, educational and financial center. The Metropolitan Area of San Salvador, which comprises the capital i ...

– The first land encountered on the voyage The flame was lit in Olympia and then taken to Athens where a ceremony greeted it on 24 August 1968. From there runners carried the torch to the port of

Piraeus Piraeus ( ; el, Πειραιάς ; grc, Πειραιεύς ) is a port city within the Athens urban area ("Greater Athens"), in the Attica region of Greece. It is located southwest of Athens' city centre, along the east coast of the Saronic ...

and it was taken aboard the Greek destroyer HNS ''Navarino''. The vessel sailed to Genoa, arriving there on 27 August where, outside the birthplace of Christopher Columbus, a special tribute was held. The following day saw the flame begin its journey to Barcelona aboard the palinuro''', an Italian Navy training vessel. The relay crossed several Spanish provinces on its way to Palos de la Frontera, finally being carried into the port by Cristóbal Colón Carbajal, a direct descendant of Columbus. The crossing of the Atlantic Ocean began on 12 September and was overseen by the Spanish government who provided the ''Princesa'' for the journey. On 29 September 1968 the Flame arrived just outside

at the original landing site of Columbus's first voyage. A celebration organised in conjunction with the

Bahamas Olympic Association The Bahamas Olympic Committee formerly the Bahamas Olympic Association (IOC code: BAH) is the National Olympic Committee representing the Bahamas. The committee is also the Commonwealth Games Association representing the island nation. History B ...

marked the first time that the Flame had been to the New World. At the end of the festivities the Flame was taken aboard the Mexican destroyer ARM ''Durango''. The ship arrived in

Veracruz Veracruz (), formally Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave), is one of the 31 states which, along with Me ...

on 6 October with the torch being swam ashore by a relay of seventeen swimmers. From there the Mexican runners started their journey, and the Flame arrived at the

Olympic Stadium ''Olympic Stadium'' is the name usually given to the main stadium of an Olympic Games. An Olympic stadium is the site of the opening and closing ceremonies. Many, though not all, of these venues actually contain the words ''Olympic Stadium'' as ...

Estadio Olímpico Universitario Estadio Olímpico Universitario is a multi-purpose stadium located inside Ciudad Universitaria in Mexico City. It was built in 1952 and at that time was the largest stadium in Mexico. This stadium has a capacity of 72,000. The first major event ...

on 12 October. In total the relay spanned , of which was on foot and was on water. Antorcha 68

Lighting of the cauldron

The cauldron was for the first time lit by a female athlete, Mexican hurdler

. Basilio entered the Estadio Olímpico Universitario and ran a lap around the track before ascending the ramp up to the cauldron.

References

External links

Olympic Torch Leaves Athens For Mexico City 1968
at

British Pathé British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

{{Olympic torch relays Torch Relay, 1968 Summer Olympics Olympic torch relays