The 2016 Olympics in Rio start soon and I am excited to see the world come together. It is such a unique event where so many countries from around the world gather compete. The Olympics are kind of nostalgic for me. I remember growing up and looking in the newspaper each morning to see what the medal count was. It was so important to see how the US was doing on winning medals compared to the rest of the world. I remember watching some of the sports, but in some way it didn’t really matter what sport was on, we just wanted to see the US win. Probably the most memorable for me was watching the opening ceremonies. It is an event that each new hosting city seems to try to outdo the previous. One part of the opening ceremonies that I have been intrigued about is the Olympic torch. The torch always looks incredible. The torch is meticulously designed and is an attempt to show some of the art, culture, and beauty of the hosting country. The 2016 Rio Olympics torch has done all of these.

In order to pick a a design for the torch, the country of Brazil hosted a nationwide design contest. There were 76 different design agencies that entered and the design from Chelles & Hayashi was selected. The design agency Chelles & Hayashi then worked with the Rio2016 Organizing Committee to finalize a design.

The design is quite beautiful and features expandable sections that show brilliant colors beneath the shell. Each color is designed to represent the sea, sun, sky, and mountains. These colors are also the hues found in the Brazilian flag.

As a mechanical engineer I am quite intrigued by how the Olympic torch works mechanically. It appears there is some sort of spring that allows the torch to expand. I did a quick search and found a YouTube video from the guys What’s Inside?. They actually cut one of this year’s torches open to see what all is inside the torch. It is a little sad, and almost feels disrespectful that they cut the torch open in a crude way, but it did satisfy my curiosity for how the torch might work.

It is fun to see some of the details behind the design of the majestic torch. I am excited to watch the opening ceremonies and see this torch in action. I am looking forward to watching some of the Olympic games and cheer on the USA!