BOSTON, MASS.- An exceedingly rare official 1968 Mexico City Olympics torch sold for $41,786 according to Boston-based RR Auction.

The discovery of the 'Type 6' Olympic torch occurred nearly 50 years after the 1968 Summer Games when Olympic researchers used photographic evidence to certify its existence and very necessary creation.

Aside from its distinction as being the first Spanish-speaking Olympiad, the Mexico City Games hold the honor of having the most styles of relay torches; a record obtained not for the sake of one-upmanship, but rather due to the faulty design of the original torch.

On a busy Barcelona street on September 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. Both men received minor injuries, the torch relay continued shortly thereafter, and the cause of the detonation was attributed to the fuel volatility and the 'too-rapid contact of a lighted torch with an unlighted one.'

In an attempt to protect future torchbearers, as well as to prevent further bad publicity, a safer, simpler torch was developed by the Spanish Olympic Committee—the 'Type 6,' a torch that was exclusively made for use during certain portions of the relay in Spain.

By the time the torch made landfall on Mexican soil on October 6—the torch and its defect issues had been resolved. The flame was carried into the Estadio Olímpico Universitario on October 12 by Mexican Olympian Enriqueta Basilio, who became the first woman to ever light the Olympic Cauldron, after a historic 13,546 km route that featured the support of an astounding 2,778 torchbearers.

"It's a magnificent, museum-quality piece of Olympic history," said Bobby Livingston, Executive VP at RR Auction.




Highlights from the sale include, but are not limited by:

Oslo 1952 Winter Olympics Torch sold for $55,000.

London 1908 Olympics Gold winner's medal sold for $33,275.

Leonid Zhabotinsky's Tokyo 1964 Summer Olympic Gold winner's medal sold for $30,250.

Los Angeles 1984 Summer Olympics Gold winner's medal sold for $24,361.

Calgary 1988 Winter Olympics Gold winner's medal sold for $15,365.

Patek Philippe Calatrava International Olympic Committee watch sold for $14,948.

The Olympic Auction from RR Auction began on July 17 and concluded on July 23.