Flaming Out

By Melissa August, Matthew Cooper, Rachel Dry, Silvia Feist, Lina Lofaro, Ellin Martens, Jodie Morse, Benjamin Nugent, Julie Rawe, Eric Roston and Josh Tyrangiel

TORCH AND GO Traversing the Australian countryside can be arduous, as witnessed by the travails of the Olympic torch as it traveled to Sydney:

--One man tried--and failed--to douse the flame with a fire extinguisher

--A teenager grabbed the torch and ran. He was apprehended after a 20-ft. sprint

--For three weeks, the torch was upstaged by a horse-drawn chariot that had sneaked into the convoy

--Police shoved a torchbearer whose flame had already been extinguished when he pretended to light an 11-year-old's birthday cake, causing the girl to burst into tears

--Australians everywhere exhibited their enthusiasm for a new Olympic ritual: Mooning the Torch