Sydney Olympic Games torch

This Olympic torch was carried by New Zealand athlete Peter Snell on the first leg of the Olympic flame's journey around New Zealand before heading to Australia in preparation for the Sydney Summer Olympic Games in 2000. He carried it from a helicopter on the top of Coronet Peak near Queenstown and passed it to a skier for the next stage of its journey. He also carried it again during a later leg in Auckland.

It was one of 14,000 torches made to accommodate all the torch bearers carrying the Olympic flame from Olympia in Greece to the Olympic Stadium in Sydney. The flame arrived in New Zealand inside a special burner. The final torch was used by athlete Cathy Freeman on 15 September 2000 to ignite the Olympic cauldron during the Opening Ceremony.

The Olympic flame

The torch relay is part of the lead up to all Olympic Games. The relay begins when a sacred flame is symbolically lit from the sun's rays in Olympia. The flame then travels to the host city, where its arrival heralds the beginning of the Games. For the Sydney Olympics, the flame travelled 27,000km from Greece to Sydney via Guam, Palau, Micronesia, Nauru, Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu, Samoa, American Samoa, Cook Islands, and New Zealand, followed by many towns in Australia.

Design

Every country that hosts the Games designs its own torch. The organisers of the Sydney Olympics wanted the torch to become an icon of the Games and represent Australia's skills in manufacturing and design.

The tiered rim of the torch emulates the sail-like roofline of the Sydney Opera House, its curving body reflects the shape of a boomerang, and its aluminium surface was anodised in turquoise blue to symbolise the waters of Sydney Harbour. The white fibre finish of the outer shell was intended to capture the feel and appearance of the Sydney Opera House roof tiles. The torch received an Australian Design Award.

Sir Peter Snell

Sir Peter Snell (1938-2019) was one of the world’s greatest athletes in one of the world’s most admired sports – middle-distance running. In 2000 he was named New Zealand’s Sports Champion of the 20th Century. During his running career he won three Olympic gold medals (at Rome in 1960 and Tokyo in 1964), two British Empire and Commonwealth Games gold medals (at Perth in 1962), and set six world records. In 2002 he was made a Distinguished Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to sport, becoming Sir Peter in 2009.