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Full circle Torch relay complete's Snell's Olympic experience
Posted: Monday June 05, 2000 04:51 PM
QUEENSTOWN, New Zealand (AP) -- Three-time Olympic gold medalist Peter Snell on Monday became the first New Zealander to hold the Olympic flame aloft on home soil. Rated as New Zealand's No. 1 athlete of the 20th Century, the former world-ranked middle-distance runner barely exceeded walking pace as he restarted the torch relay at Coronet Peak, a south Island ski resort. As torch custodian in New Zealand, Snell flew with the flame by helicopter from a nearby airport to the snow-covered top of Coronet Peak, lit the torch and handed it to Winter Olympic medalist Annelise Coberger. Coberger skied down the slope before passing the flame on to a series of torchbearers including rugby player Todd Blackadder, Olympic swimmer Danyon Loader and 100-year-old Madge Mason. Snell carried the Olympic flag into the stadium at the 1964 Tokyo Games. The torch relay will continue Tuesday through the national capital of Wellington before arriving Wednesday in Auckland. The route through New Zealand is the last stop on a 12-nation relay through Oceania before the flame lands June 8 at Uluru, or Ayres Rock, in central Australia. From there, the torch relay will wind its way around Australia for 100 days until the Sept. 15 opening ceremony in Sydney. Due to the ongoing political coup in Fiji, the torch bypassed the tiny Pacific Island nation, instead staying in Tonga an extra day before jetting to New Zealand.
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