The Bournemouth Echo has picked up the baton in investigating the Olympic torch relay, and found more unusual choices for the honour of carrying the torch. Among torchbearers in Dorset they identify:
“Four Olympic staff members – a venue health and safety officer from Epping and three people who work for the Olympic Broadcasting Service.
• A Basingstoke councillor, who is also a senior manager at Lloyds Banking Group.
• A Belgian, nominated for having an eco-home and driving an eco-friendly car.
• A Vodafone account manager, who says on an online profile that he was nominated to carry the Olympic Torch because of his strong sales performance.
• A man from Ballymena in Newport, who has no nomination story but does appear to have a profile on a website called British Sex Dating.
• A Met Police constable.”
The paper – which says its digging was “inspired by Help Me Investigate” – also once again highlights the problem with torchbearers who have no nomination story, saying that half of the Dorset torch bearers from China and Hungary have no nomination story on the LOCOG website “so there is no way of finding out why they have been selected or who nominated them.”
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This a travesty of the Olympic ideal. Money rules yet again.
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