OBJECT OF THE WEEK: THE OLYMPIC TORCH

BY KATHERINE HANNEMANN

As you read this blog post, are you decked out in your favourite Canadian team gear with the CBC’s Olympic opening ceremonies countdown playing in the background? If so, the featured object this week might have special meaning for you. In honour of tonight’s opening ceremonies of the XXII Olympic Winter Games in Sochi, the object of the week is none other than the Olympic torch.

The Sochi Torch. Source: Olympic.ca

The 2014 Olympic torch relay was the longest torch relay ever held in the history of the modern Olympics, stopping at more than 130 cities and towns across Russia – and traveling through the depths of the world's deepest lake, atop Europe’s highest mountain, and even in space. Olympic enthusiasts in Russia and around the world have been cheering on this ancient Grecian tradition in preparation for the Games. But the question must be asked: is everyone celebrating? And -- is this tradition really that ancient?

The torch in Lake Baikal. Source: CTV News

Regarding the latter question, the modern Olympic torch relay started during the Berlin1936 Summer Olympics (which is not necessarily the best representation of the “peace and friendship between peoples” that the torch relay is supposed to symbolize, but this may call for another blog post). The 1936 Olympics attempted to revive the ancient Grecian traditions of torch races, bringing another element of Greek mythology and romanticism to the modern Olympic Games, which started in 1896. The current tradition is to light the flame in Olympia, Greece, and transport it to the host country for the relay, though this practice only started with the 1964 Games in Innsbruck, Austria. (At any rate, that’s the idea – though, as we’ve seen, this year’s Olympia flame may be supplemented with one from a cigarette lighter.)

With every new Olympics, a new Olympic torch is unveiled. So where do all those old Olympic torches go? As emerging museum professionals, you guessed it – into Olympic museums! To find a comprehensive collection of Olympic torches from Games throughout the 20th century, head to The Olympic Museum in Lausanne, Switzerland, which is the official museum of the Olympic movement. And there is an entire network of Olympic museums worldwide – so if you want to stay closer to home, try the Lake Placid Olympic Museum or the upcoming Richmond Olympic Experience (which, by the way, they’re “not calling a museum because that invokes an image of walking into a building and everything’s in cases”).

Torches at The Olympic Museum. Source: The Guardian

Still, though the torch relay and other semi-Grecian ephemera add pomp and circumstance to this international sporting event, at times the spectacle of the Olympics can seem ostentatious, over-the-top, and a deliberate distraction from what is really going on behind the scenes at the Olympics. It’s no secret that the Olympic torch relay (both in Russia and in previous host countries) has encountered many twists and turns along the way, coupling bombastic ceremony with corruption, politics, and doping, among other practices that are not necessarily conducive to the “Olympic spirit."

How will you watch the Olympics this year? Will you avoid the Games altogether out of distaste for the grandiose spectacle that they have become? Or will you try focus on the sporting events – the actual heart and soul of the Olympics – and root on your favourite Canadian athletes (ahem… Tessa and Scott)? Or will you, like me, be divided by an awe for the raw power and unbelievable capabilities of the human body with a simultaneous repulsion from the troubling hints of what’s behind the Olympic curtains?

However you do (or don’t) watch the Olympics, let us know what you think in the comments below – and join me in reviving the new tradition of the Superbowl snack stadium for the Olympic Games.