50th Anniversary of the 1956 Olympic Torch RelayPrint Page 
The plaque commemorates the 50th Anniversary of the 1956 Olympic Torch Relay which passed through Maryborough in November 1956.
The Torch Relay 1956
The Olympic Games are indelibly associated with Greece, the country of their origin. This association is acknowledged on each Opening Day by giving premier position to the Greek team, and also by the ceremonial raising of their flag to the playing of their National Anthem. To these tributes from 1936 has been added a further link by bringing from Olympia, the birth-place of the Games, a flame to kindle the cauldron in the Main Stadium. On its first journey to the Southern Hemisphere the plan accepted was to carry the flame by runners from Olympia, in Elis, to Athens whence Qantas Airlines would give it safe passage to Darwin, its first stop in Australia. A Royal Australian Air Force plane would carry it across the north of the continent to Cairns, on the north-east cost, which was to be the starting point in Australia of a relay of 2,830 runners who would carry it day and night to arrive at the Main Stadium in Melbourne at 4.32 on the afternoon of 22nd November.
Location
| Address: | Kent & Lennox Streets, Maryborough City Hall , Maryborough, 4650 |
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| State: | QLD |
| Area: | AUS |
| GPS Coordinates: | Lat: -25.537444 Long: 152.701542 Note: GPS Coordinates are approximate. |
Details
| Monument Type: | Plaque |
|---|---|
| Monument Theme: | Culture |
| Sub-Theme: | Sport |
| Actual Event Start Date: | 14-November-1956 |
| Actual Event End Date: | 14-November-2006 |
Dedication
| Actual Monument Dedication Date: | Tuesday 14th November, 2006 |
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Games of the XIV Olympiad
Melbourne 1956
On 14th November 1956, R. Kerr handed the Olympic Torch to Maryborough City Mayor, Alderman R. A. Hunter, who lit a mini cauldron and after a short welcome ceremony, lit the torch and handed it to A. Hills to continue the 1956 Olympic Torch Relay to Melbourne.
Erected by Maryborough City Council to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the 1956 Olympic Torch Relay
14th November 2006
