The 1956 Summer Olympics was held in Australia.
Then, in Sydney, something funny happened.
A cheer went up from the crowd.
The police shepherded him towards the mayor and the athlete thrust the torch into his hands.
Hills realized to his horror that it was not the Olympic torch, but a crudely constructed replica.
The stalk was a chair leg painted silver.
The mayor regained his composure and addressed the crowd: That was a trial run.
Our friends from the university think things like this are funny.
It was a hoax by somebody.
I hope you are enjoying the joke.
However, the crowd did not think it was funny.
They started milling around the street excitedly because half of them did not understand what just happened.
In the crush of people, women began screaming for the safety of their children.
Eventually a police convoy had to be called up to scrub the path for the real Harry Dillon.
Possibly the only surviving photograph of Barry Larkin carrying the fake torch.
The man behind the prank was Barry Larkin, a veterinary student at St. Johns College at Sydney University.
Originally, Larkin wasn’t supposed to have been the bearer of the flaming underwear.
But the runner was making too much tomfoolery and the blazing underwear fell out.
Few people knew what the actual runner, Harry Dillon, looked like.
Larkin later recalled in an interview what the experience felt like:
The noise was quite staggering.
There were flashes of photography.
I felt very strange because I knew I was carrying a fake torch.
The only thing I could think about was what do I do when I got there.
I was helped by Pat Hills.
Back at his college, Larkin was given a hero’s reception.
Even the rector of the college congratulated him.
Larkin went on to become a successful veterinary surgeon.
