Xinhua Reports on Olympic Flame at Everest Peak
Text of report in English by official Chinese news agency Xinhua (New China News Agency)
["Olympic Torch Relayed on Mt. Qomolangma for First Time in History (updated 2)" - Xinhua headline]
MT. QOMOLANGMA BASE CAMP, Tibet, May 8 (Xinhua) – The Olympic flame made its first ever trip to Mount Qomolangma as it was carried to the top of the world by Chinese mountaineers at about 9 a.m. Beijing time on Thursday.
The torch, which was lit at about one hundred meters away from the top, was relayed by five torchbearers until ethnic Tibetan Tsering Wangmo, one of the two female climbers on the final assault team, carried to the peak.
The unprecedented relay lasted about six minutes.
Having promised to take the torch relay to the world’s highest peak in their bidding campaign, the Beijing organizers gathered a team of 36 torch climbers. Among them 19 were picked for the final assault starting from the 8,300-meter-high camp in early hours of Thursday.
The 19-member team, dressed in red parkas emblazoned with Olympic logos, reached the 8844.43-meter (29,035-foot) summit a little more than six hours later.
About 30 climbers, including the mountaineering team and cameramen, scaled Mt. Qomolangma and they began descending at about 10 a.m.
The Olympic flame was kept in a specially designed metal canister during the ascent. As the team neared the top, the 28-year-old Norbu Zhamdul, three-time Qomolangma climber, opened the lantern and lit the torch.
The torch stayed alight and bright as the torch, lighter and lantern used for the Qomolangma expedition are all high-tech creations, capable of withstanding gale-force wind, low temperatures and the oxygen-thin air atop Mt. Qomolangma.
The first four torchbearers are Gigi (female, ethnic Tibetan), Wang Yongfeng (male, Han Chinese), Nima Tsering (male, ethnic Tibetan) and Huang Chungui (male, Han Chinese).
“We had planned to take the torch to the top as early as in late April, but the wind and snow delayed us again and again. This week we met the first period of good weather,” said Li Zhixin, chief of the Base Camp headquarters of the torch relay Qomolangma leg.
“It is a strong team. Everyone is excellent and I feel so proud of them. We kept our promise and have made our own contribution to the promotion of the Olympic spirit,” a well-known climber himself.
The Olympic flame’s first trip atop the mountain which spans Nepal and southwest China’s Tibet Autonomous Region was live televised.
The Beijing Olympics torch relay is the longest and most ambitious ever planned, travelling 137,000 kilometres across five continents in 130 days. The torch returned to the Chinese mainland at the beginning of May and it is being relayed in south China boomtown Shenzhen.
The Olympic flame was lit in Greece on March 24. Before kicking off its global tour, the flame has been split, with part of it brought to Mt. Qomolangma for the high-profile summit ceremony.
Originally published by Xinhua news agency, Beijing, in English 0720 8 May 08.
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