Expand / Collapse search
Watch TV
Menu

This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. ©2024 FOX News Network, LLC. All rights reserved. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. Market data provided by Factset. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. Legal Statement. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper.

Sports

Flame visits one of Britain's great cathedrals

Associated Press
Published | Updated
5db77515-Britain OLY London 2012 Torch

July 10, 2012: Britain's Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip look at the Olympic Flame at Windsor Castle, Windsor, England. (AP2012)

LONDON – The Olympic flame is visiting one of Britain's great cathedral cities Wednesday, winding its way through Winchester on its journey around the British isles.

The relay is covering 8,000 miles across the country ahead of the July 27-Aug. 12 Olympics. Organizers say the flame should come within 10 miles of 95 percent of the U.K.'s population, but it is also highlighting the country's best known tourist attractions.

Winchester Cathedral, the longest Medieval cathedral in Europe, has become a site of pilgrimage for fans of author Jane Austen, who is buried there.

The flame ends its travels Wednesday in Salisbury, another great cathedral city. One of the surviving copies of the Magna Carta-- a 13th century document that lays out personal liberties -- is housed within the Chapter House and has been on public display for the last 25 years.

The trip came after a banner day for the Olympic torch on Tuesday: It visited the queen at Windsor Castle, was carried by the man who broke the 4-minute mile and by Britain's greatest Olympic rower and even got a passing glance at a streaker.

Queen Elizabeth II held an unopened umbrella as Gina Macgregor, a sodden 74-year-old runner, carried the torch to the castle. The Duke of Edinburgh also welcomed the torch team to the castle.

The day began with the torch being held aloft by 83-year-old Roger Bannister, who in 1954 became the first runner to smash the 4-minute mile. Bannister walked with the torch on the track where he set that record.

A naked man with 'Free Tibet' written on his back also streaked past crowds just before former rower Steve Redgrave got the torch in Henley, 35 miles (55 kilometers) to the west of London. Redgrave, 50, won gold medals at five consecutive Olympics.

Police said the streaker, 27-year-old Daniel Leer, was charged with indecent exposure and released on bail.