Flaming Out

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