4th June, 2012
While Olympic torches go on sale for thousands of pounds on the auction website eBay, the designers don’t even have the option of putting theirs on the market.
Edward Barber and Jay Osgerby, who created the 2012 Olympic torch, tell Mandrake that despite spending more than two years working on the design, they are banned from owning one.
“We’re not allowed a torch, as all the runners get them and no one else,” Barber says at a Condé Nast reception at the London Marriott Hotel, Grosvenor Square. “It’s like the Royal Mint. You design it, but you don’t keep it.”
Even the American rapper will.i.am was allowed to keep his after running as part of the torch relay, but the designers are doing their best to stay positive.
“I suppose it might be nice to have one, but it’s been such a great experience anyway,” says Osgerby.