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The Torch has a Tough Couple of Days

Posted April 8, 2008 at 09:00 AM by Scott L. Place

Section: Beijing 2008, Beijing News, Culture/History, Olympic History, Socio-Political, Featured Writers, Scott L. Place

Beijing Olympic Torch A woman in London commented to the BBC that she felt, “bashed about a bit” as protesters attempted to disrupt the torch relay this weekend. The demonstrations in London also included several fire extinguisher wielding protestors. That’s a new tactic as far as I can tell but they were not ultimately successful. Today the relay in Paris started off badly in spite of the presence of over 3,000 police along the route. The European news media and The Associate Press are reporting local officials in Paris cut the relay short.

The Paris situation today must have been surreal for the organizers and participants. The Associated Press reported the torch was extinguished at least twice and possibly three times before putting it on buses for parts of the route. The second incident occurred when being carried by an athlete in a wheelchair with the torch. It would appear no one was immune to the protests. The last leg of the torch relay was canceled entirely.

The protests seem to be accelerating in their intensity over the past few days which is unfortunate due to the number of countries still on the schedule for the relay. The obvious question is when the protests will completely make the torch relay untenable in any form? The Chinese have responded by calling the protests “sabotage.” Observers will also be left to wonder what might happen June 4th of this year which will mark the 19th anniversary of theTiananmen Square protests.

It will be unfortunate if the tradition of the torch relay cannot continue and it would appear to be headed in that direction. The cause of Tibet has been an on-again, off-again cause with the news media and celebrities. It’s hard to blame the protestors for seizing their moment to put a black eye on something so important to the Chinese government. The protestors had to intuitively know the reaction from the Chinese would be ham-handed, stern and completely unsympathetic. On those points, they were right.

The problem with all of this is the effect it could have on several thousand athletes who have trained for their chance to excel in their sport on behalf of their countries. For some this will be their first Olympics. For others it will be their last. All of them have trained for countless hours over years for this one point in time. Hopefully all of the officials involved will make smart, timely decisions to allow them their time in the spotlight of the world.