China Plays With Fire In Paris And London
FRESHLY thawed from a podium in south-east London, Lord Sebastian Coe condemns the “army” (Mail) of Chinese “thugs” who accompanied the Olympic torch relay through London.
“Horrible,” says Lord Coe, if that’s not overdoing it.
Former Blue Peter presenter Konnie Huq, who carried the torch through London – get an adult to help with the matches, viewers – says she was manhandled by the Chinese “flame attendants”.
Konnie should have released her iron grip and produced another version she’d made earlier. But Konnie is made of stern stuff. Konnie would not let go; or thanks to sticky-back tape, couldn’t let go.
Says she: “The men in blue perplexed everyone. Nobody seemed to know who they were officially or what their title was. They were very robotic, very full on, and I noticed them having skirmishes with our own police and the Olympic authorities before our leg of the relay, which was confusing.
“They were barking orders at me, like ‘Run! Stop!’ and I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, who are these people?’ They kept pushing my hand up higher when I was holding the torch, so they were…interesting.”
Now the flame and its keepers are in France, where the Sun watches the Olympic torch go out four times. Eventually is was put on a bus, which is surely a performance enhancer.
And given the locals’ penchant for voiture flambee, not a little dangerous…
Posted: 8th, April 2008 | In: Back pages, Tabloids Comments (7) | TrackBack | Permalink
