Torch relay detoured on final day of journey to avoid protest in troubled part of Vancouver

Torch relay changed to avoid protest in Vancouver

VANCOUVER, British Columbia — Protesters have forced the Olympic torch relay to change course as the flame entered a troubled Vancouver neighborhood.

This is the 106th and last day of the relay. The Olympics begin with the lighting of the cauldron at Friday night’s opening ceremony.

About 150 protesters gathered in the Downtown Eastside area amid hundreds of Olympic fans waiting for a glimpse of the flame. A dozen mounted police stopped the placard-carrying protesters from surging ahead and confronting the relay. The convoy quickly changed the route and continued.

Earlier in the day, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger carried the flame in the city’s Stanley Park. He handed the torch to former track star Sebastian Coe, the chairman of the London 2012 Summer Games.