Spring Break
Student bears torch, meets protests
Issue date: 4/17/08
Amid controversy over the decision to hold the summer Olympics in Beijing, China, participants in the International Olympic Committee-sponsored torch-bearing event, including Hopkins freshman Danielle Dorfman, were met with protestors everywhere.
Dorfman, currently studying biomedical engineering, served as one of 80 torchbearers in the Olympic torch relay in San Francisco this past week. The freshman was selected by Coca-Cola Corp. as one of six "Ambassadors of Active Living," a distinction given in the program to those selected individuals who promote an active lifestyle and contribute to make a positive difference in their local communities.
The Olympic torch relay is meant to symbolize the international communication, amity and peace that the Olympics foster. The Olympic torch's stop in San Francisco was the only one of its kind planned to take place in the United States during the 85,000 mile-long 2008 Beijing Olympic torch relay.
This year's torch relay has been marked by strong protests of the torch in virtually all the cities it has visited. Assaults on the Olympic torch have occurred recently in cities such as Paris, as protestors attempted to douse the flame as a political message about China's conduct in the semi-autonomous region of Tibet.
In San Francisco, the IOC decided mid-relay to change routes in an effort to thwart protestors.
In San Francisco, the IOC decided mid-relay to change routes in an effort to thwart protestors. Dorfman was sitting on the IOC bus ready to disembark for her leg of the relay when news of the decision reached her. As a result, she was one of the first torchbearers to run on the route's detour. While the protestors were extremely loud, Dorfman said that she never felt she was in any real danger.
"Because I ran when they had just changed the route, the protesting really hadn't gotten bad yet. The IOC and San Francisco both had security forces everywhere," Dorfman said. "When I was running, there was a layer of SWAT around me and then two more extra layers too."
Dorfman, currently studying biomedical engineering, served as one of 80 torchbearers in the Olympic torch relay in San Francisco this past week. The freshman was selected by Coca-Cola Corp. as one of six "Ambassadors of Active Living," a distinction given in the program to those selected individuals who promote an active lifestyle and contribute to make a positive difference in their local communities.
The Olympic torch relay is meant to symbolize the international communication, amity and peace that the Olympics foster. The Olympic torch's stop in San Francisco was the only one of its kind planned to take place in the United States during the 85,000 mile-long 2008 Beijing Olympic torch relay.
This year's torch relay has been marked by strong protests of the torch in virtually all the cities it has visited. Assaults on the Olympic torch have occurred recently in cities such as Paris, as protestors attempted to douse the flame as a political message about China's conduct in the semi-autonomous region of Tibet.
In San Francisco, the IOC decided mid-relay to change routes in an effort to thwart protestors.
In San Francisco, the IOC decided mid-relay to change routes in an effort to thwart protestors. Dorfman was sitting on the IOC bus ready to disembark for her leg of the relay when news of the decision reached her. As a result, she was one of the first torchbearers to run on the route's detour. While the protestors were extremely loud, Dorfman said that she never felt she was in any real danger.
"Because I ran when they had just changed the route, the protesting really hadn't gotten bad yet. The IOC and San Francisco both had security forces everywhere," Dorfman said. "When I was running, there was a layer of SWAT around me and then two more extra layers too."
Be the first to comment on this story