The Jamaica Star :: Sport :: Activists take risky anti-Olympic stance

Rescuers reach activists from French media watchdog, Reporters Without Borders, after the activists unfurled on the Eiffel tower a black flag with the five Olympic rings depicted as handcuffs yesterday during the Olympic torch relay. The Olympic torch relay through Paris has resumed after being struck by chaos, with security officials extinguishing the torch twice amid heavy protests. - AP

PARIS (AP)

The Olympic torch relay has drawn demonstrations through the years, from protests before the 2006 Winter Games in Italy to firebombs in South Korea leading to the 1988 Summer Games.

The latest disruption came yesterday when organisers cancelled the final leg of the run through Paris because of chaos stemming from protests against China's human rights record.

In San Francisco, where the relay is to be held on Wednesday, three people climbed the Golden Gate Bridge and tied the Tibetan flag and two banners to its cables.

Democratic right

"It was to be expected that in countries and cities where there is a democratic right to protest this was always a possibility," International Olympic Committee spokeswoman Giselle Davies told The Associated Press from Beijing, where the Olympics begin in four months.

"We respect that right for people to demonstrate peacefully, but equally there is a right for the torch to pass peacefully and the runners to enjoy taking part in the relay."

Before the 2006 Turin Olympics, the torch's route was changed three times in a week because of concerns about protests in Italy. Dozens of protests related to a variety of causes took place during the torch's 64-day journey across the country. Four people briefly grabbed the torch from an Italian track star in the town of Trento.

The torch survived several sabotage attempts in Australia before the 2000 Sydney Games. One spectator grabbed the torch and unsuccessfully tried to throw it into a harbour. Another time, a teenager attempted to douse it with a fire extinguisher.

Radical students in Seoul, South Korea, threw about 50 firebombs at the torch procession before the 1988 Olympics. None of the torchbearers were hit and the procession continued. The students demanded that the games be shared with North Korea.