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2008 OLYMPIC TORCH RUN
DAR ES SALAAM, Tanzania, April 13 -- The Beijing Olympic flame completed its eighth leg of the torch's global tour at this largest city of Tanzania here on Sunday. The relay started its relay in drizzle on Sunday afternoon from the Tazara, the railway station of Dar es Salaam. Tanzanians staged traditional dances like frisk dancing, folk saltation and fire dancing, initiating the city relay.

Tanzanian Vice President Mohamed Shein lit the torch at the start of the relay, and said: "I am excited that Tanzania is only country out of 53 African nations to host the relay. Tanzania unreservedly supports the Beijing Olympics. It is the occasion of a lifetime."

Gulam Rashid, the president of Tanzanian Olympic Committee, said, "I would wish to thank IOC and BOCOG for their good decision of selecting the city of Dar Es Salaam to be among 21 cities in the world and the only city in Africa for the Beijing 2008 Olympic torch relay to be held."

 The first torch bearer was Tanzanian Minister of State for Union Affairs in Vice President's Office Mohamed Seif Khatib.
 The last one to wrap up the relay was United Nations Under Secretary-General and Executive Director of UN-HABITAT Anna Tibaijuka. "I am very proud that Tanzania is celebrating this moment. We have been given a great honor," she said. "This is a moment of solidarity for Tanzania, Africa and the world in the spirit of the Olympics." Tibaijuka is the first African woman elected by the UN General Assembly to the position of UN Under-Secretary-General.
    
 Highlighting torchbearers were John Stephen Akhwari, an athlete in the 1968 Olympics of Mexico City, Uganda athlete Dorcus Inzikuru and Mustapha F. Damiri, a HIV carrier. "It's a great honor and top privilege to hold the flame in my home country," said Akhwari. "When I hold the flame, I feel I am the center of the world and I am the attention of people from all around the world. So I am so excited for my leg of 60 meters."

The Dar es Salaam route was streamlined to five kilometers, so each bearer could run around 60 meters. John Stephen Akhwari, born in 1938, was an Olympic athlete at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City. He represented Tanzania in the marathon. During the race he fell, badly cutting his knee and dislocating the joint. Rather than quitting, he continued running. He finished last among the 74 competitors. When asked why he continued running, he said simply, "My country did not send me to Mexico City to start the race. They sent me to finish." His story is featured in the Beijing 2008 SongHero.

Dorcus Inzikuru, born in 1982, is a Ugandan athlete competing in steeplechase. She won the inaugural world title in women's 3000-meters steeplechase, as well as the first Commonwealth Games title in the event. "It's so great to be here as a guest and greater to carry the Olympic flame," said Inzikuru. "The experience of being a torchbearer will leave a legacy for my career and once-in-life legacy for my life."

The enthusiasm of local residents was largely flared up in a day of scorching-after-rainstorm. "It's so touching to see kids take off their shoes and socks when a pool of water submerged a section of the route," said Qu Yingpu, the torch relay spokesman. "In this moment, no hindrance for the Olympic passion and Olympic spirit of participation."

It is the first time for the Olympic flame to come to East Africa and the second time to arrive in Africa after the Athens Olympic torch relay landed in the continent in 2004. The relay in Dar es Salaam, the city dubbed "harbor of peace", covered five kilometers and lasted about two hours.