By Xinhua
Nairobi : Kenya’s Nobel Peace Laureate Wangari Maathai has been selected to participate in the Olympic torch relay in Tanzania next month.
Maathai was selected along with former multiple Olympic gold medallist Kipchoge Keino and will be among 80 people who will carry the torch in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, the only African city that will host the Olympic flame April 13.
The Nobel laureate who will be carrying the flame for the second time after last year’s Winter Olympics in Italy, expressed happiness that the theme for this year’s Olympics is environmental “Green Olympics”.
Maathai urged Kenyans to uphold peace and work together to lift the nation to greater glory.
It will be the seventh time Keino will carry the torch, having performed similar duties in 1974, 1976, 1984, 1996, 2000 and 2004.
A former Olympian, Keino burst into world fame when he defied doctor’s instructions at the 1968 Games and went on to win the 1,500-metres gold in Mexico City.
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Beijing’s subways to offer 24-hour service
Beijing: Beijing subways are likely to remain open round-the-clock on the opening and closing days of the Olympic Games.
The move was aimed at relieving heavy traffic on the two days – Aug 8 and Aug 24 – while the operating hours would be extended on other days of the Games, Beijing Daily quoted an official with the Beijing metro operation company as saying, without giving further details.
The subway is expected to carry the bulk of passengers to the National Stadium, also known as the “Bird’s Nest”, on the opening day when about 100,000 people are expected to attend the ceremony, he said.
The No.10 route linking the stadium with the downtown area was expected to have intervals between trains shortened from four minutes to three minutes during the ceremonies, said the official.
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Australian Foreign Minister against boycott of Olympics
Canberra: Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith said Wednesday a boycott of the Beijing Olympics was not a sensible thing to do.
“I don’t believe a boycott of the Olympics is a sensible or the right thing to do,” Smith told ABC Radio.
The Olympics should be used to promote China rather than attack it, he said.
“I think we should use the Olympics as part of China’s engagement with the international community. The Olympics is a chance to put the spotlight on China and also to enhance China’s engagement with the international community,” he said.
“In the past, boycotts of the Olympics in my view have not been successful, whether Australia is engaged in that as it did with the Moscow Olympics or when other nation states have engaged in it.”
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Theme flower show attracts half million visitors
Hong Kong: An international flower show with the theme of Olympics has attracted over half a million visitors in the Olympic co-host city of Hong Kong, officials said.
The annual flower show at the Victoria Park attracted over 548,000 people during the 11 days starting March 10, an increase of some 21,000 visitors over the previous year, said the Leisure and Cultural Services Department, which organised the show.
More than 200 organisations from 21 countries and regions, including the Chinese mainland, Australia, Indonesia, Japan, Europe and North America, took part in the show.
The organisers also put on flower designs in the shape of the mascots and logos of the Beijing Olympics, of which Hong Kong is one of the co-host cities.
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Surgery hurts champion gymnast’s preparation
Rio de Janeiro: Two-time world champion gymnast Diego Hypolito has undergone a surgery which could post a serious obstacle to the athlete’s preparation for the Beijing Olympics.
“It will obviously harm (Hypolito’s preparation). He will miss practices, and practising is always important. He will have to get over it,” said coach Renato Araujo.
The gymnast was operated upon in a hospital in Rio, where physicians fixed a rupture in the medial meniscus of his right knee. The procedure took about 80 minutes and was “successful”, according to orthopaedist Joao Granjeiro Neto, who carried out the surgery.