The Boys In Blue But worryingly, not our boys in blue. We have seen these blue sportswear clad 'security' men running alongside the Olympic flame in London, Paris and in this picture, San Francisco. In London these guards were seen scuffling with protestors, overly keen supporters and even in some moments of confusion, with the police. Who are they though ? Journalists have guessed that they are members of the Chinese SAS equivalent. Why on Earth though were they allowed to do what they did in London, surely crowd control and arresting people is the job of the Police, not the disguised agents of a foreign power ? You also shouldn't worry about China not reporting in full the the events of the openeing torch relay, here's the report from China Daily...... "Eighty athletes, entertainers and dignitaries will relay the torch along a 31-mile route from Wembley Stadium to the O2 Arena in Greenwich. Those taking part in the relay include 10 Olympic champions, among them are marathon world record holder Paula Radcliffe, 18 schoolchildren and public figures such as news reader Sir Trevor McDonald and musician Vanessa Mae. Double Olympic champion Dame Kelly Holmes will run the last stage of the route to complete the relay before lighting the Olympic cauldron in front of 5,000 spectators. On its journey through the city the torch will be carried on foot, on an open-topped double decker bus and by light railway past some of London's most iconic sights. Despite bitter temperatures and sleet, impromptu carnivals are expected as the torch passes iconic landmarks such as Nelson's Column, St Paul's Cathedral and Tower Bridge." Well, I suppose you could call all those protestors an 'impromptu carnival' of sorts. This was written about the Paris leg..... "PARIS: The run toward Beijing 2008 continued yesterday - the seventh day into the torch relay - with the Paris leg starting from Eiffel Tower in the hometown of Baron Pierre de Coubertin, founder of the modern Olympics. Tens of thousands of Parisians swarmed the streets while many waved and cheered, like their ancestors did in 1894 when foot races with torches were organized during an international congress for the restoration of the Olympic movement. "I'm really, really proud of bearing the torch," former men's world 400-m hurdles champion Stephane Diagana, the city's first torchbearer, told China Daily after his 200-m run along the tower's first viewing platform. "It's so meaningful for me." Diagana said his understanding of the Olympic values is "sharing, peace and respecting people's differences - the wealth of the world lies in its differences, and I think we all have to bear that in mind. It's not easy, but I think we'll have to progress that way." Qu Yingpu, spokesman for the torch relay, said that the event started smoothly in Paris but encountered protests by Tibetan separatists during the process. Due to safety concerns and to safeguard the dignity of the torch, the relay team had to change the relay pattern and put the torch in a bus three times to complete the process smoothly, he said. Jin Jing, a Chinese torchbearer, said the disruptions by some separatists were an insult to the athletes and undermines the spirit of the Olympics. "I despise them", said Jin, who carried the torch on a wheelchair. However, she said she was encouraged when she saw many people, including Chinese students, waving Chinese flags to cheer her along the way. Paris, home city of the 1900 and 1924 Olympics, failed in all three of its bids in the past two decades - including a heartbreaking close loss to London in the bid for 2012. The French capital is the fifth city - and the last in Europe - in the global relay, which spans 21 cities outside the Chinese mainland from April 1 to May 3. The torch is scheduled to arrive in San Francisco today." To those of us who watched the tv news of the London and Paris relays, those 'news' reports bear almost no relation to what was happening on the ground.