Some protesters briefly grabbed the Olympic torch from Italian track star Eleanora Berlanda as the relay passed through the Italian town of Trento on Monday.
Four protesters known as ”the disobedient ones” — demonstrators associated with the anti-globalisation movement — nabbed the torch and relay escort runners claimed it back, the Italian news agency Ansa reported.
”I saw the [protesters’] banners and I thought I would be able to pass by them, but they came near,” Berlanda said by telephone.
”I tried to hold on to the torch but they were pulling on it, and my wrist was being turned, so I had to let go of it. They were aggressive about getting the torch, but not toward me personally.”
Berlanda, who set Italian records in the 1 500m, said she was uninjured.
The relay continued without any other problems, said Stefano Coscia, media director for the torch relay.
Several thousand people, including children, had turned out in cold weather to cheer on Berlanda, Coscia said.
More than 30 protests have marked the torch relay since it left Rome on December 8, prompting the Games’ government supervisor, Mario Pescante, last week to express worry about the possibility of bigger protests.
Among the protests so far along the torch’s route was one in Venice against a plan to save the sinking city from high waters, and others targeting a high-speed rail link being built across the Turin area to link north-west Italy to France.
The torch is scheduled to arrive in Turin on February 9. The Olympics run from February 10 to 26. — Sapa-AP