Olympic torch relay still set for london in 2012

By Simon Hayes on April 9, 2008 8:00 PM |

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LONDON will still have an Olympic Torch relay in 2012 despite the trouble surrounding the flame’s visit to the capital at the weekend.

The London Organising Committee (LOCOG), based in Churchill Place, has confirmed the build-up to the 2012 Games will include a relay around the UK, although an international route looks doubtful.

A LOCOG spokeswoman said: “Our focus at the moment is on the handover at the end of the Beijing Games. But our plans for a torch relay are that we are committed to a domestic relay.

“We would have to work with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) on any international route so we’ll have to wait and see what they decide in the next couple of weeks.”

The IOC will discuss the future of the international torch relay this week in light of the trouble surrounding its visit to London and Paris. Sunday’s (April 6) route from Wembley to The O2 was marred by pro-Tibet demonstrators, embarrassing the IOC and the Chinese organisers.

By the time the torch arrived in Canary Wharf, at 5pm, security around it had been greatly increased, making it difficult for spectators to get a clear glimpse of the celebrities carrying it.

The self-styled “Journey of Harmony” found less troubled waters when it transferred to a motor launch for the short trip along the Thames to The O2.

The final leg saw double gold medallist Dame Kelly Holmes carry the torch into Peninsula Square in North Greenwich, where she lit the Olympic cauldron.

Her focus was very much on the sporting symbolism rather than political comment.

She said: “At the end of the day the Olympic Torch is a call to all sportspeople that the Games are about to begin and that is what sportspeople’s dreams are all about.”

simon.hayes@wharf.co.uk