Lausanne: On the occasion of a visit to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) headquarters on Tuesday, former Chief Executive of the Formula One group Bernie Ecclestone donated the iconic original torch which Muhammad Ali lit the cauldron in the Olympic Stadium at the 1996 Atlanta Games to the IOC.
"Personally, it was a great honour finding this unique torch, and there is no better place for it to be than at the IOC," said Ecclestone.
"This torch is an icon of the Olympic Games. I think everybody in the Olympic movement still has this image of Muhammad Ali, when he was already suffering from the beginning of his Parkinson's disease, standing there in those very touching moments, proudly holding the Olympic torch and then lighting the flame," IOC president Thomas Bach said in a statement.
To have this unique torch at the IOC is something very special. I would like to thank Ecclestone from the bottom of my heart," Bach added.
This donation comes just a few days after the 136th IOC Session, during which IOC president Bach recalled the attachment of "The Greatest" to the idea of solidarity by quoting the Olympic champion, who had the Olympic flag as one of just two flags flying at his funeral: "I have learned that whatever time we spend on earth should be spent helping others and creating justice and equality for all people, not out of pity or shame, but out of love for all people with the knowledge that we belong not to many races but to one race - the human race."
