By Joanne M. Pierce/The Conversation For decades, winning an Olympic medal has been described as the Holy Grail of sports. Athletes aren’t the only ones in search of a Holy Grail. For example, in 2012, when physicists discovered the Higgs boson, a particle viewed as one of the fundamental building blocks of the universe, it was described as “a true Holy Grail.” In the same way, many automobile enthusiasts list several collectible cars as Holy Grails because they are so rare that it is a real challenge to find them. In general, people refer to a goal that seems almost impossible to reach as a Holy Grail. More technically, the term Holy Grail refers specifically to the cup that Jesus used at the Last Supper. But exactly what is the quest for the Holy Grail? As a specialist in medieval Christian history, I know that several important threads have combined over the centuries to give rise to the Holy Grail metaphor commonly used nowadays. These include elements of pre-Christian mythology, the veneration of relics in Christian tradition, and medieval literature from Britain and France. Read moreSection: ArtifactsOther ArtifactsNewsMyths & LegendsEuropeRead Later