Flaming Underpants

Probably the most memorable stunt surrounding the torch relay came in 1956 when an Australian student named Barry Larkin fooled crowds with a homemade torch topped by burning underpants.

Larkin managed to get his torch — a wooden chair leg crowned with a metal pudding container holding the fiery underwear — up the stairs of Sydney’s Town Hall and deliver it to city mayor Pat Hills, cheered on by tens of thousands.

The university student even arranged his own fake motorcycle escort but when he started to run out from the crowd, he found himself flanked by genuine police outriders as the crowd closed in around him.

The mayor sensed nothing wrong as he took the flame from Larkin, giving the first part of his prepared remarks before realizing something was amiss.