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The Olympic flame is on its way to Japan and an uncertain future after passing through Canberra amid rowdy demonstrations, scuffles and tension between police and Chinese torch attendants.
While yesterday's 16km relay finished without major incident, several demonstrators broke through barricades and police cordons, rival sides hurled insults and abuse at each other, and bystanders were intimidated by confrontations that at times appeared on the verge of violence.
Pro-Tibet demonstrators at times provoked the vastly larger number of Beijing supporters bused in from Sydney and Melbourne - some estimates put their number at up to 10,000 - but the pro-China crowds were aggressive and threatening.
And even with far less violence in Canberra than in previous relays, and with a festival mood that managed to survive ugly scenes to party on into the evening, Japan has closed much of the next leg through Nagano to the public, and Beijing is reported to have banned media from the flame's ascent of Mt Everest.
For the runners, the honour and excitement of being among only 80 in Australia to carry the torch outweighed events on the sidelines. New Zealand's sole representative, 24-year-old Hamilton ironman Aaron Fleming, said his run past the New Zealand-Australia memorial was "awesome, fantastic. That was really special."
Former swimming megastar Ian Thorpe echoed the sentiments of other participants: "It's been a great day."
Organisers also emphasised the positive. Australian Olympic Committee media officer Mike Tancred told Sky News that the blaze of colour from demonstrators was "terrific to see - [they're] in good spirits and enjoying the day".
But the angry rivalry of opposing demonstrators began early and erupted into scuffles, the occasional hurling of missiles, attempts to strike the other side with flagpoles, and shoving and jostling that frequently jolted and frightened bystanders.
Talkback radio callers complained of being spat at by Beijing supporters, one saw a car with a Tibetan flag forced to a halt and blocked by another vehicle displaying the Chinese flag, and others alleged incidents of assault.
Spectator Alastair Paterson told ABC radio that he had been awaiting the torch when he was kicked by a China supporter and, when he confronted his attacker, was faced with three or four others saying, "Come on, come on." He said the group had jostled a woman, torn down a pro-Tibet banner she was holding, and hit her husband across the head with a stick.
Thousands of Chinese began assembling at Reconciliation Place near Lake Burley Griffin well before 7am, massing under a sea of red flags and chanting as they dominated barricades around the starting point.
The much smaller group of pro-Tibet supporters was at times surrounded, until police separated the two with cordons creating a noisy no-man's-land. A hot-air balloon carried a "free Tibet" banner, and both sides released other messages attached to party balloons.
As crowds increased, the morning took on a surreal air: at one end a swing band hammering out jazz, at the other an increasingly angry confrontation through which police forced passage for neutral spectators, many of them families with young children. A number of the children were in tears as they emerged from the throng.
Official loudspeakers were almost drowned by rival chanting of "China terrorists" and "One China".
Flagpoles were used as weapons, and police hauled out provocateurs who had infiltrated rival crowds to their fury. One man was arrested after trying to burn a Chinese flag.
At one stage demonstrators were warned that if they did not retreat into segregated areas the relay would not start, and successive speakers urged peace, to little avail.
Chinese chants continued through the traditional Aboriginal smoking and spiritual cleansing ceremony, despite appeals for respect, and through Advance Australia Fair.
Near Parliament House, Canadian singer kd lang and Greens Senator Bob Brown attacked China as "free Tibet" was skywritten above, followed soon after by another plane towing a banner declaring "Go, go Beijing Olympics".
As the relay got under way, police initially jostled with Chinese flame attendants running beside the torch in a continuation of the dispute over responsibility for security.
Near Parliament House, one man was pulled from the road after breaking through the cordon ahead of the torch, and a woman was carried from its path after apparently fainting.
Near the War Memorial, three demonstrators leaped barricades with a "free Tibet" banner and were chased up Anzac Parade by a larger group of Beijing supporters before police intervened. Two pro-Tibet protesters and five Beijing supporters were arrested and will be charged.
But as the furore died down, Canberra partied on.
