History Repeats in Melbourne
It was an emotional day in Australia’s second largest city as the Olympic torch returned to Melbourne, home of the 1956 Olympic Games.
Large crowds turned out all along the route, from the pyjama wearing fans who were on the streets of Flemington to sip champagne and cheer the runners on at 6am, to those who gathered at suburban Glen Waverley in the evening for a barbecue and fireworks as the relay ended another busy day.
In between the Flame returned to the suburb of West Heidelberg, home of the 1956 Olympic Village, and to the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), the main arena for the 1956 Games and one of Australia’s premier sporting venues.
A crowd of 70,000 was at the MCG, with an Australian Rules football (AFL) match between the Melbourne Demons and the Geelong Cats scheduled to start after the Torch Relay festivities.
In the suburb of Essendon, home of the Aussie Rules club the Essendon Bombers, a footy flavour was also to the fore, with many fans sporting team’s colours of red and black. Essendon player, Steve Alessio, received huge cheers as he ran with the torch.
Emotions were running high as the convoy travelled to West Heidelberg and the 1956 Olympic Village.
The celebrations there began with dancers performing an ancient Greek Torch Dance, and moved through 12 different cultures that have been involved with the Olympic Games.
To recreate the avenue of flags that was present in 1956, local schools erected banners. An enormous cheer went up when Heidi Beard, who competed in the 1960 Olympic Games, lit the cauldron.
The highlight of the day, however, was the torch’s return to the MCG. A cavalcade of 1956 Olympians began the celebration, and when Mark Taylor, one of Australia’s most respected and successful cricket captains, entered the grounds the emotion was palpable.
The 70,000-strong crowd rose to their feet and, in the words of one observer, went ‘ballistic’. They stayed on their feet for all the torch bearers.
Also running at the ‘Gee’ were former captain of the Socceroos (Australia’s football team) Paul Wade, Aussie Rules football legend Ron Barassi (accompanied by his grandchild and the grandchildren of AFL greats Ted Whitten and Bobby Skilton), and Ron Clarke, Olympic middle distance runner and the man who lit the 1956 Melbourne Olympic Games cauldron.
Ron reprised his 1956 task, lighting the cauldron. The flame was then carried out of the MCG before the opening ‘bounce’ of the Melbourne-Geelong clash.
As Mr Clark said: ‘The MCG is an icon of Australian sport. The Torch is touching the lives of everybody around Australia — children, people of all generations have seen this once in a lifetime flame.’
Louise Dobson, Olympic gold medallist and Hockeyroo then carried the torch out of the MCG and marked the next leg of the relay to the evening celebration in Glen Waverley.
Source: SOCOG Olympics.com