The youth attempts to douse the flame

The youth attempts to douse the flame
Agencies

Sydney, August 24: The Olympic torch relay came under attack on Thursday when a youth attempted to douse the flame with a fire extinguisher at Maclean in northern New South Wales.

The 17-year-old man was arrested by torch security staff and handed over to local police. He was later released into the custody of his father and no charges were laid, New South Wales state police said.

``Sports rules have become very complicated over the past 10 years,'' said Michael Slattery, one of the lawyers who set up the programme. Some 50 lawyers are available on a 24-hour basis September till October 1, but Slattery said it was not their job to clear every athlete in doping cases. ``We only want to make sure that everything happens in a fair way.''

Customs woes

SYDNEY: The 237 horses arriving this week aboard five jumbo jets for the Olympic competition are only a minor concern for the local customs authorities in the final countdown to the games.

A bigger problem is the fact that many athletes and officials seem unaware of Australia's tough customs and quarantine laws. ``This is creating some headaches,'' said a customs spokesman.

Russian rowers, for instance, arrived with several kilos of beef. The meat was confiscated immediately as it is strictly forbidden to import meat, fruit and other produce in an effort to stop the spread of certain diseases into the country.

Games spirit

SYDNEY: In a display of the Olympic spirit, two benefactors stepped forward on Friday to help the Olympic team from the tiny east African nation of Djibouti which had cash stolen from a fundraiser this week.

Djibouti team attache Ali Wais told newsmen that about a $ 3,000 (US 1,710 dollars) was stolen during an Olympic fundraising evening held by Afican communities on Saturday.

But in a gesture of Largesse, a stock broking firm and a charity offered to replace the missing cash which would pay the accommodation for the athletes' families. The Sydney office of Melbourne-based broker DD Tolhurst and the Wesley Mission offered to help out the beleaguered team.

Jackie Chan backs Sarah

LONDON: British taekwondo star Sarah Stevenson, who at 17 is the World junior and European champion, is being tipped to bring home an Olympic medal by none other than martial arts film star Jackie Chan.

Chan is sponsoring Stevenson, born in Doncaster in the former coal mining heartland of Yorkshire in northern England, when she takes part in the senior tournament which will be fully recognised at the Games for the first time.

Five million trees

SYDNEY: More than five million trees have been planted to help make Sydney green for the Olympic Games, the New South Wales government said on Friday.

The planting project began in 1994 with a modest target of one million trees, but grew to a staggering size after it struck a chord with the community, assistant environment Minister Carmel Tebbutt said.

Dozens of local councils, schools, community groups, and businesses have participated in the project, which started with a Pilot planting along the Olympic marathon route.