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

Get the free ebook for the full story: 8,000 Holes: How the 2012 Olympic Torch Relay Lost its Way - Leanpub.com/8000holes

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 campaigns. You can download the book for free – or choose to pay a donation, with all proceeds going to the Brittle Bone Society – at Leanpub.com/8000holes

Part 4: The 21%

Between December 2011 and June 2012 the numbers of torchbearer places being awarded by bodies other than the Presenting Partners and LOCOG increased by a third. The International Olympic Committee‘s share of places saw the biggest change, going up by half – from 71 according to a December press release to 117 six months later, while commercial partners other than the three presenting partners – dozens of companies including Dow Chemical, G4S, Atos and BT – saw their share go up from 678 places to 913. Continue reading

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

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

Infographic by @carolinebeavon

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% of places would be made available to the general public.  Continue reading

The story so far – a Telegraph guest post

The following is cross-posted from the Telegraph’s new Olympics data blog:

How many stories can a set of data hold? When it comes to Olympic torchbearer data, after three weeks I’m still counting. From company bosses exchanging ‘torch kisses’ and mapping Nottinghamshire torchbearers to chief executives ignoring official advice not to take Olympic torchbearer places, the dataset is a data journalist’s dream. Continue reading

Daily Mail pick up our torchbearer photo story

Daily Mail torchbearer story

The photo and story we published last week on the ‘torch kiss’ of two retail bosses has been picked up by the Daily Mail.

The newspaper combines the story with one previously reported in This Is Staffordshire (but not credited): that of local torchbearer James Taylor, whose place was withdrawn two weeks earlier due to ‘failing Home Office checks’, despite Taylor having no criminal record and passed CRB checks previously.

The piece suggests that Taylor’s withdrawal may be connected to the fortuitous scheduling that allowed the two bosses to carry the torch on sequential legs of the relay.

This suggestion had also been made by a parent of James Taylor in the comments to a This Is Staffordshire piece on the sponsor’s choice of torchbearer. She added:

“Having had this done on him as angered me even more, his sporting and the family’s reputation has been marked along with his broken spirit, I do hope the people who decided to do this to my son feel shame.”

It was This Is Staffordshire’s David Elks who found the image of the two corporate torchbearers when we approached him to ask if the newspaper had any images of those carrying torches through Stafford.

Torchbearers do not normally have any control over where or when they carry the torch.

Photo: the ‘torch kiss’ of two retail bosses

Intersport general manager Tom Foley and Next's Group Product Director Christos Angelides exchange an olympic 'torch kiss'

Intersport general manager Tom Foley and Next's Group Product Director Christos Angelides exchange an olympic 'torch kiss' - photo from BBC Stoke

This appears to be the moment two retail executives exchanged an olympic ‘torch kiss’ on Wednesday as they carried the Olympic torch through Staffordshire.

As revealed previously by Help Me Investigate Olympics, and now reported in The Independent, Daily Mail and Guardian, Intersport UK general manager Tom Foley and Next’s Group Product Director Christos Angelides were nominated by adidas to carry the torch because they had been “engaged in the business of sport for a number of years”.

The moment that the flame was passed between the two men was captured and published on Twitter by BBC Stoke. Angelides was also snapped earlier by Instagram user Trovster. Thanks to This Is Staffordshire’s David Elks for pointing us to both images from the site’s liveblog. Continue reading

Independent picks up corporate torchbearer story

A week after Help Me Investigate the Olympics first revealed how sponsors were choosing executives and partners to carry the Olympic torch, The Independent has picked up the story.

Tom Peck contrasts promises made by Sebastian Coe and Boris Johnson with the reality of the choices of torchbearer made by adidas and other sponsors, including details which HMI Olympics will reveal later this week. Continue reading

Company bosses were chosen to carry the Olympic torch, admits adidas

Adidas have admitted that the general manager of sports clothing retailer Intersport and the Group Product Director for Next are among a number of people carrying the torch on behalf of the company for working “in the business of sport for a number of years”.

Following the publication of HMI Olympics’ investigation into Olympic torchbearers, Steve Marks, senior PR manager for adidas, also confirmed that other torchbearers included the company’s Warehouse Systems Manager and Category Manager.

Help Me Investigate had already identified an adidas store manager and member of the IT team among the torchbearers, as well as: Continue reading

Adidas’s torchbearers share a common story

If adidas’s own representatives are any indication, the way to get your hands on the Olympic torch in 2012 is to be “engaged in the business of sport for a number of years”.

An analysis of nomination stories on the London2012 site has found that 7 8 [UPDATE – see below] torchbearers were nominated with the same ‘nomination story’: Christos Angelides, Clare Ennis, Lucy Speakman, Simon Chapman, Chris Caddick, Jay Boey and Tom Foley – and now Mark Newton-Jones:

“Carrying the Olympic Flame is a once in a lifetime experience and I am grateful to be selected. To carry it on behalf of adidas, a company with a history of encouraging participation in sport, is an added bonus. I have been engaged in the business of sport for a number of years and I hope I have also contributed to the development of sport in our country.”

So who are they?

Most interesting is Christos Angelides – could this be the same Christos Angelides who is Group Product Director for Next, ranked 15th in Drapers Powerlist 2011 with a pay packet of £900k? Next are the official clothing and homeware supplier to the London Olympics, but a phonecall is needed… UPDATE: Confirmed.

And is that the Tom Foley that is general manager of Intersport? UPDATE: Confirmed.

Adidas torchbearers Tom Foley and Christos Angelides share the same nomination story

Adidas torchbearers Tom Foley, Christos Angelides, and 5 others share the same nomination story

Are Chris Caddick, and Jay Boey Adidas’s Warehouse Systems Manager and Category Manager for adidas respectively? UPDATE: Confirmed.

Continue reading