Olympic torch will only tour Britain

Published on Friday 27 March 2009 21:26

THE Olympic torch will only tour Britain in the run-up to the 2012 Games in London, it was confirmed yesterday.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has banned world tours of the torch following widespread protests during its journey to last year's Beijing Olympics.

People demonstrating against China's human rights record tried to extinguish the flame during several legs of the relay, including in London.

The torch's world tour has been short-lived. It was launched for the 2004 Athens Games but then dropped because of difficulties with national Olympic committees in several countries. Last year's tour only went ahead because it had already been organised.

London had already decided to limit the flame's tour to Britain, with the 2010 Winter Olympics, at Vancouver in Canada, doing likewise.

The IOC's decision will introduce a formal ban on tours outside the host nation from 2016.

A London 2012 spokeswoman said: "We have always said the primary focus would be on a domestic torch relay, whose main purpose is to excite and inspire the UK in the build-up to the Games."

She said that 95 per cent of the UK population should be no more than one hour away from seeing the tour.