OLYMPIC TORCH AVOIDS SAN FRAN PROTESTERS
The San Francisco leg of the Olympic torch relay was
surrounded by confusion as organisers made an eleventh-hour change to the
route.
Crowds lined the streets of the publicised route in San Francisco, the only city in the US that the torch will visit, only to find that organisers had made last minute changes in an attempt to avoid scenes like those seen in London and Paris.
San Francisco avoided such scenes despite threats of protests, with protestors scaling the Golden Gate Bridge on Tuesday, although the route change foiled the majority of would-be demonstrators as well as impartial spectators.
The torch has been used as a focal point for pro-Tibet and Human Rights campaigners, with the flame being extinguished five times in Paris on Monday.
Earlier this week, San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom admitted that he "anticipated trouble" in light of the scenes in London and Paris but stressed that changes to the route would not be made.
Yesterday, Newsom backtracked on that policy, telling Reuters news agency: "We assessed the situation and felt that we could not secure the torch and protect the protesters and supporters to the degree that we wished."
IOC officials have already admitted that they will reconsider the current policy of 'around the world' torch relays in light of the protests but IOC head Jacques Rogge believes that the relay programme will be able to recover from the recent setbacks.
Mr Rogge said he had been "saddened' by violent
protests in Europe but he believed the San Francisco relay had been an
improvement.
"It was, however, not the joyous party that we had
wished it to be," he added.
Speaking at a joint meeting between the Association of
National Olympic Committees and the IOC executive board, he said officials
should reassure athletes.
"Tell them not to lose faith," Mr Rogge said.
"Tell them that they are going to set an example and that the world will be watching them.
"We have 120 days to achieve that and I am sure it is going to be successful."
The torch will now travel to Buenos Aries for the latest leg of the relay.
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