Barry Larkin was a veterinary surgeon

Veterinary surgeon

Veterinary surgeon is a term used to describe:*The full title of a vet, who treats disease, disorder and injury in animals, in the United Kingdom and several Commonwealth countries**See also Veterinary medicine in the United Kingdom...

 from Melbourne

Melbourne

Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...

, Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

 who performed a hoax

Hoax

A hoax is a deliberately fabricated falsehood made to masquerade as truth. It is distinguishable from errors in observation or judgment, or rumors, urban legends, pseudosciences or April Fools' Day events that are passed along in good faith by believers or as jokes.-Definition:The British...

 during the 1956 Summer Olympics

1956 Summer Olympics

The 1956 Melbourne Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XVI Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event which was held in Melbourne, Australia, in 1956, with the exception of the equestrian events, which could not be held in Australia due to quarantine regulations...

 where he pretended to be running with the Olympic Flame

Olympic Flame

The Olympic Flame or Olympic Torch is a symbol of the Olympic Games. Commemorating the theft of fire from the Greek god Zeus by Prometheus, its origins lie in ancient Greece, where a fire was kept burning throughout the celebration of the ancient Olympics. The fire was reintroduced at the 1928...

.

Hoax

Larkin and eight other students at St John's College, University of Sydney

St John's College, University of Sydney

]St John's College, or the College of St John the Evangelist, is a residential College within the University of Sydney.Established in 1857, the College of St John the Evangelist is the oldest Roman Catholic university college and second-oldest university college in Australia, and is one of the...

, planned to protest against the Olympic Flame. One reason was that the torch relay was invented by the Nazis for the 1936 Summer Olympics

1936 Summer Olympics

The 1936 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XI Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event which was held in 1936 in Berlin, Germany. Berlin won the bid to host the Games over Barcelona, Spain on April 26, 1931, at the 29th IOC Session in Barcelona...

 in Berlin

Berlin

Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...

, Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

.

The plan was to get one of the other students, dressed in white shorts and a white top, to carry a fake torch. The fake was made of a wooden chair leg painted silver, on top of which was a plum pudding can. A pair of underpants, worn by one of the students in National Service

Conscription in Australia

Conscription in Australia, or mandatory military service also known as National Service, has a controversial history dating back to the first years of nationhood...

, was put inside the can, soaked in kerosene

Kerosene

Kerosene, sometimes spelled kerosine in scientific and industrial usage, also known as paraffin or paraffin oil in the United Kingdom, Hong Kong, Ireland and South Africa, is a combustible hydrocarbon liquid. The name is derived from Greek keros...

. The underpants were set on fire. Another student dressed as a motorcycle outrider by wearing a reserve airforce uniform.

The torch was scheduled to enter Sydney

Sydney

Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...

, carried by Harry Dillon. Dillon would present the Torch to the Mayor of Sydney, Pat Hills, at Sydney Town Hall. Hills would then make a speech and pass the torch to Bert Button. Before Dillon arrived, the two students went out carrying the fake torch. At the beginning, people noticed they were joking and even the police laughing at them. Then the underpants fell out of the torch because the fake runner was swinging his arms too hard. The runner panicked and fled. Peter Gralton, one of the nine students, went to get the pants and told Larkin to pick up the torch. With Larkin holding the torch, Gralton kicked Larkin's backside and told him to run.

Larkin did so, running the rest of the way to Sydney Town Hall. He ran the rest of the route, protected by police who thought that he was Dillon. Larkin then presented the torch to Hills. As Hills was unprepared, he did not look at the torch and went straight to his speech. While Hills was talking, Larkin walked quietly away, avoiding attention. Hills was not told the torch was a fake until someone whispered in his ear that it was a fake. Hills looked around for Larkin, but by now Larkin had merged into the crowd and escaped.

Aftermath

When the crowd discovered that the torch was fake, they began to grow unruly. When Dillon arrived with the real torch, the crowd was still unsettled. Hills had to calm down the crowd and the police had to clear a path to allow Dillon to get through. When Button took the torch, an army truck had to clear his path.

When Larkin returned to university, he was congratulated by the director of the college and was given a standing ovation by fellow students when he attended an exam later that morning. He was able to perpetrate the hoax partly because he was acquainted with Marc Marsden, the organiser of the real relay. Larkin went on to become a successful veterinary surgeon.

The fake torch was taken to the reception of the main hall and then ended up in the possession of John Lawler, who had been travelling with the relay in a car. He kept it until it was accidentally lost when tidying his house.

Inspiration

In the 2000 Summer Olympics

2000 Summer Olympics

The Sydney 2000 Summer Olympic Games or the Millennium Games/Games of the New Millennium, officially known as the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event which was celebrated between 15 September and 1 October 2000 in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia...

 in Sydney, the media reported the story of Larkin's hoax. As a result, the police took measures to prevent any repetition of the hoax from happening again. This included security guards lining the route. However, this was not popular as some people complained that they could not see the torch. Some hoaxers did try to disrupt the relay; two people attempted to steal the torch and one man tried to put out the torch using a fire extinguisher

Fire extinguisher

A fire extinguisher or extinguisher, flame entinguisher is an active fire protection device used to extinguish or control small fires, often in emergency situations...

, but no one succeeded.