Official ‘Type 4’ torch from the Mexico 1968 Summer Olympics, constructed of silver aluminum and a wooden handle, measuring 20.5″ in length and 4″ at its widest point. The upper metal ring features a pattern of six doves and the metallic label at the bottom reads “Mexico” twice. The base of the handle bears an affixed label that features the logo of the Games and names the designer, Manuel Villazon. The metallic bands exhibit some wear and scuffing, and the upper metal component is somewhat loose from the wooden handle.
The torch relay recreated the route taken by Christopher Columbus to the New World, and began on August 23, 1968, in Olympia, Greece. It notably traveled through Columbus’s birthplace in Genoa, where he set sail from Palos in Spain, and the first land he reached in San Salvador. In all, there were 2,778 torchbearers on the 13,546 km route.
