Olympic Torch Relay: Bournemouth Town Centre (From Bournemouth Echo)

Olympic Torch Relay: Bournemouth Town Centre

10:18am Saturday 14th July 2012 in News

THERE was a cosmopolitan party atmosphere at the Lansdowne, as the Olympic Torch made a triumphant entry into the town centre.

Thousands of foreign students were among the huge numbers of onlookers who cheered on every inch of the relay.

Julia Mardo, 27, of Blandford, was breathless with excitement after her run with the iconic Torch.

“It was better than I could ever have imagined,” she said.

“It’s great that so many people have come down, I can’t believe how many people were cheering all the way into Bournemouth.”

She handed over to Stephen Gregory, who posed for photos with onlookers before taking the Torch down Bath Hill. He described it as “the chance of a lifetime”.

Among the many spectators was Ian and Wendy Hinchcliffe, of New Milton.

Ian said: “Being here today feels like we are part of history. We were going to go to Christchurch tomorrow but we thought the evening celebration in Bournemouth would be more special. We’re going to go and see the beach celebrations now.”

And Melanie Taylor, who was there with 15-year-old Kara and two-year-old Matthew, said: “It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity to see something like this. We made a spur of the moment decision to come and see it, we just felt we couldn’t miss it.”

Other torchbearers in the town centre area were Viktor Kassai, Darren Crispin and Roy Jones.