Olympics

The experience of the torchbearer – and the executives who carried the Olympic torch on just one day – 8,000 Holes part 5

In the final part of the serialisation of Help Me Investigate’s first ebook – 8,000 Holes: How the 2012 Olympic Torch Relay Lost its Way we look at how the story affected one inspirational individual who did carry the torch – and … Continue reading

Mystery torchbearers search hits halfway mark

The search to identify 500 torchbearers without stories has hit the 50% mark, thanks to dozens of people scouring the list of names to find records elsewhere. Among the names are well-known celebrities, sportspeople and individuals who have contributed to … Continue reading

The 21% of torchbearer places that were allocated outside of public campaigns: 8,000 Holes Part 4

In the fourth part of a serialisation of Help Me Investigate’s first ebook – 8,000 Holes: How the 2012 Olympic Torch Relay Lost its Way we look at what happened to the thousands of torchbearer places that were allocated outside of public … Continue reading

Infographic: Where did the Olympic torch relay places go? What we know

An allocation of how the 8,000 Olympic torchbearer places were allocated has found that just 71% were allocated through the four main public campaigns. The figure – published in the ebook 8,000 Holes – casts doubt on the promise by organisers LOCOG that 90% … Continue reading

Olympic torch relay missed “youth” target – by over 1,000 places

Olympic torch relay organisers are over 1,000 places short of meeting the promise that over half of Olympic torchbearers would be young people aged 12-24, according to an analysis of data in the official site. Of just over 7,000 torchbearers … Continue reading

A very specific “general” public? How the 2012 Olympic Torch Relay lost its way part 3

In the third part of a serialisation of Help Me Investigate’s first ebook – 8,000 Holes: How the 2012 Olympic Torch Relay Lost its Way we look at the claim that 90% of torchbearer places would be available to the general public. … Continue reading

Twitter’s UK general manager nominated to carry Olympic torch by IOC {updated}

UPDATE: A spokesperson for Twitter says: “I’m not sure why the nomination paragraph on Tony isn’t on the site. That’s probably a question for LOCOG. Tony wasn’t nominated by a company, he was asked by the IOC to represent Twitter … Continue reading

How the 2012 Olympic Torch Relay lost its way part 2: The presenting partners

In the second part of a serialisation of Help Me Investigate’s first ebook – 8,000 Holes: How the 2012 Olympic Torch Relay Lost its Way we look at how the presenting partners’ allocation of torchbearer places was handled. You can download … Continue reading

Who’s running instead of Jack Binstead today?

The following is a short extract from the final chapter of 8,000 Holes: How the 2012 Olympic Torch Relay Lost its Way: “On the day that Jack’s family flies out, the Olympic torch will be carried by Chai Patel – a … Continue reading

Help Me Investigate interviews Jack Binstead for The Guardian’s Writers Relay

Carol Miers’s interview with wheelchair racer Jack Binstead is published today in The Guardian. Today is the day that Jack was most likely to have carried the torch, had his nomination by 20 people been successful. Instead he and his … Continue reading