Australia leg declared success despite clashes

Police and protesters clashed during the Australian leg of the Olympic torch relay today but organisers hailed the event as a “raging success”.

Swimming great Ian Thorpe, the last of 80 torch runners, lit the Olympic cauldron in front of a huge crowd at Canberra’s Commonwealth Park.

But protesters had interrupted the initial stages of the relay through the streets of the Australian capital, while the flame itself eventually provided the major concern of the day.

Thorpe sported a wry grin as the flame in the cauldron went out and had to be re-lit.

Earlier, six arrests were made and minor scuffles broke out between rival protesters shortly after the relay began at 8.45am local time.

The incidents were on a far lower scale than the dramatic scenes witnessed on international legs in London, Paris and San Francisco, however.

Thousands of Chinese spectators and protesters and a few hundred pro-Tibetan protesters clashed in Reconciliation Place.

A man was detained when he set fire to a Chinese flag before a group of pro-Tibetan protesters had to be removed when they ran into a large group of Chinese supporters.

But the progress of the torch was barely affected when 2007 Young Australian of the Year Tania Major opened the 16-kilometre journey.

Australian Capital Territory government spokesman Jeremy Lasek said the behaviour of the crowd was pleasing.

“The most important thing is the flame was never in danger, from start to finish, and that’s an enormous credit to our federal police,” he told Sky News.

“We obviously feared the worst having seen incidents in the other cities around the world.

“We feel right now relieved but elated – we think we’ve pulled it off.”

The next leg of the relay is scheduled for Nagano, Japan, on Saturday.