The torch was being carried by a wheelchair athlete when it was halted and extinguished for a second time due to demonstrators shouting, according to AP. Backup flames, also lit from the birthplace of the ancient games in Olympia, Greece, are with the relay at all times to relight the torch.
Earlier protesters close to the River Seine forced authorities to put the torch out and take to a bus so they could continue the relay.
Agencies report that the relay has now resumed but that there have confrontations between the authorities and demonstrators. Police have taken numerous protesters away, AP said, also using tear gas to remove demonstrators who lay in the road and tried to block the relay route.
The torch had to be taken from a wheelchair athlete to protect it? The police are using tear gas???
Whatever it was the IOC thought they were doing 7 years ago when they awarded the 2008 Summer Games to Beijing, it’s clearly backfiring.
I’m curious about what you think of all this. Are the protesters harming or helping? Is this the right venue for objections to Chinese governmental abuses?
I’ve written more about the disastrous Olympic Torch relay at my own blog, here.