WATCH: Teenager Makes a Go for the Olympic Torch

By | Posted on July 22nd, 2012

Security intervenes when a young man jumps into the torchbearer’s path. (Photo via BBC)

The 2012 Games have yet to start but the drama has already begun. An unnamed teenager, 17, leaped out of the crowd in Kent, England and reached for the Olympic torch being carried by Polish torchbearer Anna Skora. Skora, 23, handled herself well, veering out of the way.


The young man has been arrested and is still in custody. The local police are inquiring as to whether this was merely a prank; it is rumored that there was online buzz of a £250,000 prize to the person able to obtain and hold the torch.

This isn’t the first arrest involving the Olympic torch.

A British male, Daniel Leer, 27, with “Free Tibet” written in large letters on his back and carrying a fake torch, ran naked across the front of the Olympic torch convoy as it traveled through Henley, reports The Sun. Leer has since been released but is still waiting to appear in front of the Oxford Magistrates’ Court on July 25.

Do you think the arrestees should be tried or just get a slap on the wrist?