5月10日号 1面
Flaming Passions
厳戒下、長野で北京五輪聖火リレー
Passions flared brighter than the Olympic torch when it passed through Nagano on April 26 on its long journey around the world in the lead‐up to the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games in August.
Clashes between Chinese students, pro‐Tibetan demonstrators and Japanese ultranationalists overshadowed the torch's trip through the city.
Although six arrests were made and four Chinese students suffered minor injuries in clashes with protesters, heavy security ensured the torch got through its journey around the city that hosted the 1998 Winter Olympic Games.
About 3,000 police lined the route. The torch was guarded by a cordon of about 90 security officers and although around 85,000 turned up to watch, access to the relay was strictly controlled and the public could not get close.
Olympic officials were generally pleased with the way the relay turned out.
"It was a shame the relay had to go on with all this fuss in the background. But we passed on a message of peace and the Nagano torch relay was a success," said Takeda Tsunekazu, president of the Japanese Olympic Committee.
An estimated 5,000 Chinese students gathered to watch the relay. There were 80 torch bearers who followed an 18.7‐kilometer course through Nagano. A star‐studded cast was among the bearers including Olympic baseball team manager Hoshino Senichi, table tennis prodigy Fukuhara Ai, comedian Hagimoto Kinichi, dual Olympic gold medalist Kitajima Kosuke and reigning Olympic marathon champion Noguchi Mizuki, who ran the anchor of the relay.
"I was praying for peace while I was running," Noguchi said when she arrived in Nagano's Wakasato park, the finishing point of the relay.
The torch was flown to Seoul on April 27 and passed through the two Koreas before going to Hong Kong on April 30 and then around China before reaching Beijing for the start of the games on Aug. 8.
Protests have dogged the torch relay in its progression throughout the world. Most of the anger has been directed at China's harsh crackdown on pro‐Tibetan demonstrators in March, as well as its poor record of respecting human rights.
(Mainichi Weekly)
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【WORDS 単語をチェック】
flaming 燃えるような passion 情熱 flare 燃え上がる Olympic torch 聖火（後出 torch bearer は聖火ランナー）in the lead‐up to ～ ～が近づく中 clash 衝突 pro‐Tibetan チベット擁護の demonstrator デモ参加者 ultranationalist （ここでは）右翼 overshadow 影を落とす make an arrest 逮捕する suffer minor injuries 軽傷を負う protester 抗議者（後出 protest は抗議） heavy 厳重な security 警備 ensure 守る line ～ ～に沿って並ぶ a cordon of ～ ～の警戒線 strictly 厳重に get close 近づく shame 残念なこと fuss 大騒ぎ estimated ～ 推定～ star‐studded 著名人がそろった prodigy 天才 dual 二つの reigning champion 現チャンピオン pray for ～ ～のために祈る fly 空輸する dog 後を追う progression 進行 harsh 厳しい crackdown 弾圧 poor record 劣悪な歴史 respecting human rights 人権尊重
【写真説明】 press pool photo 代表撮影
