The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Olympic flame extinguished
THE OLYMPIC torch went out for the first time yesterday during the London 2012 relay, organisers confirmed.
The torch was attached to the side of Para-badminton star David Follett’s wheelchair in Great Torrington, Devon, when the flame went out shortly before 10am.
A spokeswoman for LOCOG said: “The flame went out due to a malfunctioning burner.
“It is not uncommon for a flame to go out and this can happen for a number of reasons, for example, in extreme winds.”
A replacement torch was brought out from the convoy of vehicles and was lit from the mother flame.
“We keep the mother flame in speciallydesigned miners’ lanterns so, if the flame does go out for some reason on the relay, we relight it from the source of the flame,” the spokeswoman added.
Follett was left paralysed at 19 when he was struck by a car.
But after returning to college to complete his A levels he looked at what sports were available to wheelchair athletes and helped to set up a badminton club.
With his playing partner, Follett has been unbeaten for three years in the four nations competitions and he is now the Para badminton world No 1 in his class.
The torch relay entered its third day yesterday and saw dozens of unsung and hard-working individuals get their moment in the spotlight as they carried the torch from Exeter to Taunton.
They carried the Olympic Flame beside some of Britain’s top sport stars, including Ashes- winning cricketer Marcus Trescothick and Olympic gold medalwinning triple jumper Jonathan Edwards.
Some of the Olympic torchbearers have started to cash in on their once-in-a-lifetime privilege by selling their torches on ebay.
Before the first day of the relay was completed, the gold torches appeared on the online auction site.
A torch used during the relay on Saturday is attracting bids of more than £30,000.
Other torchbearers have pledged to donate the proceeds from the sale to charity.
Sarah Milner Simonds, from Burnhamon-sea, who is selling her torch to raise money for the project she represents, said she had received a bid of more than £150,000.
Ms Milner said she still needed to check if the bid was genuine.
“It only occurred to me to do it on Saturday night,” she said.
“The sale closed last night at 10 o’clock and the final bid was £153,000.”
The torchbearer, who was nominated for her work as a community gardener for the People’s Plot, said she was dismayed that people who objected to her decision had started sending her abusive emails.
"Obviously it has really upset people, but I think that it's not something that is really me to keep my shiny trophy on a mantelpiece when it is obvious how much good one can do with the money that someone might be willing to pay for it.”
Ms Milner carried the flame through the village of Dunster yesterday afternoon.
Sellers have also auctioned off the uniform they wore while carrying the flame.
The Voice judge Will.i.am also carried the Olympic Torch yesterday. The Black Eyed Peas star was cheered on by thousands of people as he ran through Taunton carrying the flame.
The Us-born music producer was a surprise addition to the line-up on day three of the relay. Will.i.am (37) looked at ease in the warm weather as he jogged through the Somerset town centre.