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

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