West Olympic Torch

Tonight, the fire takes to the West Country water. It has travelled

from LANs and, through Devon and Somerset, plaster -- past

Glastonbury and Wales. 8000 people, all of them carrying the torch 300

metres on a daily journey of 100 miles using 68 different forms of

transport as it goes through 1021 different villages, towns and

cities across the UK. Tonight, it The message of the Olympic torch

his friendship, peace and unity and there is no doubt that the people

of the West Country have united behind the concept of the Olympic

flame. There are tens of thousands of people crowded round the docks.

All vessels of Great and Small were out on the water. Be quick question

is, where is that torch at the moment? Amy Williams is somewhere

near its. I am down on the water. I can see the flame and the torch and

the atmosphere is incredible. The flame has been passing from -- a

three many places and has touched many hands tonight. It is fantastic.

It is with a young Paralympic athlete training -- training with

the sailing squad and she is incredible. She is 21. It is her

birthday tomorrow. Let's see what kind of a woman she is. When you

catch that bit of wind and you can feel the boat accelerating, there

is a split second where I feel like I am flying. It does link to

yourself. I feel at peace sometimes. I feel free and it is great. I

sailed be 2.4 single-handed class. I have quite good STRENGTH and I

used a joystick to steer the boat. There is lots of positions. I would

love to be a gold medallist one day and would like to win the gold

medal in the World Cup as well. Just a few things. The main thing

is to progress. You have moments when you are going along and the

sun comes out. You think life is just totally amazing and what I

have been through, it is totally it worth it for this moment and if

this split-second. A lot of people say it is like you are dancing with

it and it is. You are moving with it, leaning up with it and moving

as one. When I first started to carry the Olympic torch, I was in

complete shock. I stopped talking for five minutes which was the

longest time as ever. It was like a big wave suddenly hit and it was

like, wow, oh, my word. The privilege was immense. Complete

pride and being able to represent Bristol is a complete honour. I

represent sailing and Paralympic sailing which is something that I

feel very passionate about. What an inspirational lady. But we are

surrounded by all these colourful boat's down here on the water. That

torch has 8000 calls on it representing the 8000 people that

are carrying it. It is representing unity, peace and friendship and I

hope everyone here can get the sense of it with that flame.

you see her? I have to say, you talk about friendship, unity and

peace. It defies all rational thought that all these thousands of

people have come to watch an inanimate object. It is hugely

uplifting and life affirming to be here. We have live music at the

moment. There have been local dances and singers on the stage.

That is the essence of what this torch relay is about, it is about

someone that you know who has been chosen to carry the torch. It is

about them mixing with the great and the good of the music and

sporting world. Didier Drogba or carries it in Wiltshire tomorrow.

Our first guests appear, an Olympian, is somebody who will be

carrying the torch and a few weeks' time and he is somebody who is at

home on the water. There is a moment, before the race

Metres, measured in the mind, every kick and turn it rehearsed. Each

movement imagined across a narrow lane of see that stretches back

four years. There is a moment and Five times he has risen to the

Olympic challenge. Five times he has taken on the world. A leader

within his nation, a standard bearer for a country. An

inspiration for the 2012 generation. Mark Foster, is it loud up here all

what? I saw pictures of your holding the Olympic flag in Beijing.

If carrying the torch is something else, being the flag-bearer at an

Olympic Games must have been almost beyond belief. If it was an honour

and a humbling moments. The team got behind me to carry out the flag.

The rest of the team were behind me and it was a huge honour. It

enabled Chris Hoy and Rebecca Adlington to rest in their bed

because it was heavy and they needed a big man to carry it. No,

that is a joke. We have extraordinary scenes here and I'm

sure people watching today, at the crowds here have been amazing.

is one of the things but the torch relay. It has never been to the UK

before where I have engaged with it. It is almost like a mini carnival.

Everybody has been getting really involved with it. They hopefully

feel part of the Olympic Games. Every time I hear music, I want to

dance. Are you going to dance? I am about to be joined by a second

great Olympian, a man that appeared in five Olympic Games. He is

somebody that had to master five different sports to secure her

place on the Olympic podium. Individual events, one after the

other. Combined in one competition. Excellence required again and again.

A contest that carries the athlete from one challenge to the next.

Forces, many battles within a single day. Five sporting

disciplines, one complete event. There Kate Allenby, Olympian,

medallist, a prize seized their muscles were torn. A decade at the

summit. A true competitor, an Olympic bronze medal gained through

individual events that demand a complete athlete. Kate Allenby is

here in her tracksuit and also, where is your special prop? Here is

your own personal Olympic torch that you will not be selling on the

eBay. You round today in Bath and the scenes there looked

extraordinary. It was an incredible experience. I didn't think it would

be like that. I came around the corner and saw so many people. It

brings together friendship and unity and you really felt that.

it this scale that you hadn't expected? It was way beyond what I

thought. I saw friends, family, I totally welled up. It was amazing

to see them supporting me and Marks the Olympics or rarely coming.

Having the Olympic flame and there really brought everyone together

and marked it starting for the start-up of the whole thing.

Something that occurs to me today, especially at Plymouth when they

had 50,000 people turn up, there is competition going on around the

country, where people in the Midlands when the torch goes there

and the north-west, they will be saying, hang on a minute, Bristol

had so many people. We have to do more than that. People try to go

began better. Today, they tried to break a world record in Bath for

people making human Olympic rings. In Scotland, they will probably be

doing that with 50,000 people. The beauty of it A's, people will not

get bored of it. Everyone is coming out and wants to see it. It is

about the flame and the people carrying yet. The great thing about

the flame is it is so what uniting and it is much more than London's

Games. What the Olympics have done is given some cities to form links

with other countries around the world and that is precisely what

SINGING. Children at night Roby primary school with a song composed

for the Olympics to be sung at schools across the country. It is

one of 10 in Nairobi paired with Bristol schools. Our aim is to

create a global citizen and clear up stereotypes that exist between

the African culture and the UK culture. They can understand that

as much as our cultures differ, we are, at the end of the day, the

same. This man was one of the greatest runners. He has set up a

high altitude training centre and a school at his home town. He is the

chairman of the Kenyan national Olympic committee and a driving

force behind the Bristol/Kenyan partnership. We feel honoured to be

able to go to Bristol and train our athletes. There is a development

and the friendship between the two cities is important. At Ashton Park

School, this group of people are getting ready for their sports day.

They are all really excited about learning. It is completely

different over there. Over here, there is a reaction -- negative

reaction to scoreboard over there, they love it. As they prepare for

the Olympics, the Kenyan athletes are coming to visit schools in the

Bristol/Kenyan partnership, helping to cement relationships that they

hope will continue long after the Games are over.

That is the whole issue of legacy which has been the word of the

Olympic Games over their last seven years and will continue for many

We will have to wait 66 days until we find out. Someone who carried

the flame earlier today is ironic Amy Williams who was out and about

earlier today. -- is our very own. On a boat for you are, how was it

like for you? For me, it was incredible. That feeling of pride,

seeing all the streets lined. I felt incredible. She must be

feeling the same, she is last person to carry the torch here. I

am in the middle of bright colours, this little authority children on

different vaults, sailing around, showing off to us all and all these

crowds. They are the future of our British sailing team. They train

here in the West, in Bristol. They are loving it. The crowds are just

amazing. It is just electrifying down here. I just feel amazing. I

am nervous and I think this whole show tonight, we can he wreck

behind us on that stage behind, and it is just amazing for everyone.

John, these children and everyone here is going to remember it for

the rest of their lives. Absolutely. Rarely has this place looked so

magnificent. You could be in the south of France. This place has

been regenerated of last 20 years. Everybody getting the best vantage

point they can do which is in preparation for that charge. The

noise as well he is the thing that struck me. How was that for you end

Bath? The streets were so full. The crowd were just so excited. For me,

it was for the children, because it is about inspiring them. You doctor

any Olympian and they talk about something whilst they were in

primary school. It was watching Sebastien Coe winning in Moscow.

Other children to watch someone, I hope we can inspire them to do.

Welcome to our viewers on the BBC News Channel. The Olympic torch is

currently out on the water just now and it will be brought to dry land

in the next few minutes. If that is their first pictures you have seen

in Bristol tonight, you can see the extraordinary way the people of the

city have turned out tonight. We have thousands and thousands of

people, literally tried to get the most vantage -- -- most critical

vantage point. Mark, I mention the word legacy earlier. There are

still some sceptics who wonder whether come October or so, the

Olympics will be signed -- consigned to the Olympic books. IDC

how this is changing people's beset them off sport? Army children are

being in sport -- involved in sport. -- for me. Swimming pools,

athletics centres, tennis courts, there have been lots of venues

opening up which will give children a chance to be involved in sport. I

go to lots a school and see a lot of obesity on the increase, this is

making us more fun and that starts when you are younger. Duncan a

student to my club when I was young and I wanted to be like him. That

is what inspired me to get into the water. You are a teacher. One

impact is thus appearing on the children you teach? The children

are getting excited. I mention the Olympics every day and my head of

department was, not again! Just watching the change in the children,

when you see their faces, when you put something different in front of

them, you see children who are not any it up teens, subtly changing

and believing in themselves. This is all about the torture and it is

very much a symbol of unity and joy. -- the Olympic torch.

A fire handed down from ancient gods. The Sacred Flame Of Olympus,

that burns with an man, woman and athlete. In each, sport and so that

aches to achieve. A fire of passion, of desire. To drive on with each

heartbeat. To reach further, fight harder, fly closer to Olympic

heights. A flame that flickers with Paul, fuelled by dreams are made

real. A light that shines on those who dare to give their all. In each

movement of every muscle, in every second of every race. I heat that

Sears moment on the memory. Sparkes genius, fuels courage, conquers all.

A fire to forge legends in bronze, silver and gold. An infernal to

consume those that stumble in its shadow. Through air. And water.

Across earth, I guess -- against time. Have claimed that reshapes

the athletes. And creates giants. Where mortals once stood.

So many unforgettable Olympic images. These are pictures that

people of Bristol will remember for a long time. The day that the

Olympic flame came to this famous city and there it is. A member of

our Paralympic sailing squad has been the last person to bring it to

shore, and it is going to be on the stage very shortly. It is a moment

of recognition and huge Pride Park are as well to have been chosen

today. It is fair to say that every single person, the hundreds of them

who have carried the torch so far since set land there that Land's

End is again, it will be a day they talk about for ever-more. And that

harsh -- and that Olympic torch, everyone who has carried it has had

an opportunity to buy the Rhone torch. What I greater investment

that has been. -- their own. Some people are selling them for good

charity causes. This is a moment that everyone else will never

forget. This seemed of Chariots of Fire plays out from the

loudspeakers here on the stadium. On the waterfront here in Bristol.

And it is ridiculously, emotional. It is incredibly emotional. We were

going on to a bus down to where we were dropped off this afternoon, we

came round the corner out of Bath University. I was sat down behind

Jason Gardener. He turned down to me with a few rapidly is going,

this is amazing. The most amazing thing about it is that bringing

together of people. I was a keen to someone from the sailing club and

he was saying all the clubs which would all be best mates and on the

water together, he was saying they barely know each other. Through

this, they have been out on the water together all the last few

days and it has created an extraordinary bond for them all. It

is doing the same for all the people here. Very much so. We will

see that Paul Klee with the 70 days. It will bring the country together.

-- we will hopefully see that. It is all about the sport. That is

what the flame symbolises. There is a danger of getting very peace-

loving -- peace, love and understanding about it. If you are

watching this, maybe on the Internet or however, if you are not

watching it on the news channel on BBC One, you will realise they Shia

scale of celebration that this whole occasion engenders. He will

hope to replicate that wherever you may be in the country. He will halt

the weather will be the same wherever you will be. -- their Shia

scale of it. Here comes to the cauldron. A tumultuous reception

here at the harbourside. Great scenes out on the water as well.

And cheers all round. Also, I out on the water itself where dozens of

people are out then carry accent in use, witnessing the cauldron being

let. Thank you everyone for coming out. It would not be the same

without you. She is telling the thousands out there what an

extraordinary event has been for her. What about this far and that

was here? Thanks to you guys, you made it. A big thank-you to you for

being involved in this. Ladies and gentlemen, another Olympic gold-

medallist, Lee's Malcolm Amy Williams. Thank you, hello Bristol.

I have been down on the water following her on the water all this

time. I can now finally speak to you. I have been able to see a face

all that time, smiling. How much does this mean to you? It means the

world. Just to be nominated was a huge privilege. To be able to carry

the torch which is once RNLI time - - once-in-a-lifetime thing, into my

home city, it is amazing. I can see you are emotional. You have a

bigger role in London as well. Your audience for the future, can you

tell us about that as well? I am in the sailing squad for the

Paralympic Games. We're to wish you all the very best of luck and we

wish you a very happy birthday as well. So this is the biggest party

ever. So a big round of applause for her.

John, the cauldron is now let. Fantastic. Thank you and well done.

That is an unfair to get double image for all our family who are

here. It has been a clever idea. -- an unforgettable image.

People in Carlisle, Cornwall, saying it is London done -- London

2012, what this has done is create a sense of inclusive at a

throughout the whole country. Everyone has the chance to come

along. There are thousands of people around the harbour. People

have come out in hundreds of thousands to come out and watch. It

does give them that opportunity. This is the Olympic flame. One

thing we have not done, can I hope your torch? There is you're Olympic

medal from said Dave. Has that been polished a --? Every time you look

at that, when usual schoolchildren, did they say, if she can do it, I

can do it too? I look at this and the stores that I got today as

something for sharing. -- and his Olympic torch. When I take get

round to the schools, I let them hold it, let them put it on. It

goes back to finding something to inspire you when you are primary

school. When you go to a school, if you can give it to one child who

says, I can do that, then you have done your job. You are after Essex

to tap -- carry the torch there. Will I am spent his time there.

Will.I.am took an eternity to do his 300 metres. Did you run it?

did run out. I had a bit of a high kick. When I saw all my students in

Bath, I did another little jump and a Jake for them. I saw my mother

and father, I gave them a kiss. I was just amazing angry over so many

people turning out. You can do it in an elongated, tracksuit. --

elongated version of a tracksuit. am getting -- looking forward to

getting a tracksuit. The long-term thing is the long-term legacy of

the games and that is getting children involved in sport. I went

to five Olympic Games and never won a medal. I won world championships

and European championships. What people do not see is what goes in

to making that happen. Thank you for sharing this with you. 467

miles gone. 7533 to goal. College Green, 559 tomorrow morning is