Londoners gave it a shot yesterday, but Parisians set the standard today for anti-Genocide Olympics havoc.
Paris' Olympic torch relay descended into chaos Monday, with protesters scaling the Eiffel Tower, grabbing for the flame and forcing security officials to repeatedly snuff out the torch and transport it by bus past demonstrators yelling "Free Tibet!"
The relentless anti-Chinese demonstrations ignited across the capital with unexpected power and ingenuity, foiling 3,000 police officers deployed on motorcycles, in jogging gear and even inline skates.
Chinese organizers finally gave up on the relay, canceling the last third of what China had hoped would be a joyous jog by torch-bearing VIPs past some of Paris' most famous landmarks.
Good work! Chapeaus off to every one of 'em! Not everyone was pleased, however.
Pro-Chinese activists carrying national flags held counter-demonstrations.
"The Olympic Games are about sports. It's not fair to turn them into politics," said Gao Yi, a Chinese doctoral student in computer science.
...as he waved the national flag in a counter-demonstration. What's the Mandarin word for irony?
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