China’s real Olympic legacy...

This is so frustrating and disappointing. Bummer. I imagine they are still going to start the torch in Athens, right?

From the WSJ:
In the run-up to last year’s Summer Olympic Games in Beijing, China staged the most ambitious international torch relay to date, a month-long tour spanning six continents, following by a three-month, zig-zagging journey through more than a hundred Chinese cities.

But the relay got off to a notoriously bad start. In London and Paris, protestors tried to snatch the Olympic flame and unfurled Tibetan flags and banners criticizing China’s human rights record. In San Francisco and other subsequent cities, the relay routes were often changed at the last minute to avoid further embarrassing confrontations.

Now, the International Olympic Committee has called for an end to international torch relays ahead of future Olympics, starting with next year’s Winter Games in Vancouver. Organizers of the London Summer Olympics in 2012 had already said they had no plans to stage an international torch event.

“I think when the torch relay is inside the host country there is more control,” said IOC director Gilbert Felli, according to the BBC.