Rare official 1976 Innsbruck Winter Olympics torch, constructed of aluminum alloy and steel, measuring 29″ in length and 8.25″ at its widest point, designed by Vereinigte Metallwerke Ranshofen Berndorf. The upper shaft of the torch is hexagonal and features a pair of Olympic rings in openwork, with the curving metal strip extending from rings to platform representing a ski jump. The rim of the platform bears an inscribed label with Olympic rings, “XII. Olympische Winterspiele Innsbruck 1976,” and the base of the handle bears a manufacturer’s label. Oversized.
The flame of the XII Olympic Winter Games was lit in Olympia, Greece, on January 30, 1976, and traveled a total of 1,618 km over the course of five days to Innsbruck’s Bergisel Stadium. The opening ceremony featured the lighting of two cauldrons, honoring both the current games and those the city hosted in 1964; the latter cauldron was lit by Austrian skier Christl Haas, who became the first woman to light a cauldron for a Winter Olympiad. Given that only one hundred of these torches were made, this is a uniquely desirable Olympic torch with a wonderful Nordic skiing motif.
