The mood was calm as the torch hit the road for the start of a 16-kilometre journey across the nation’s capital.

Tania Major, Young Australian of the Year 2007, was the first runner to take the torch on the Australian leg of the relay.

Flanked by police, press and several Chinese flame attendants, Ms Major made her way to the edge of Lake Burley Griffin where the Australian Women’s Rowing Eight team took the flame across the water.

Relay rivals ordered to back off

Before the torch arrived, Olympic organisers told the crowd of thousands the relay would not go ahead unless protesters and supporters separated themselves into two groups.

The rival groups continued to surge towards each other waving flags and shouting slogans into loudspeakers. At least one man was arrested during the scuffles.

Pro-Tibet supporters burned a Chinese flag as the torch was welcomed to Canberra with an indigenous smoking ceremony . The leader of the group of demonstrators was immediately arrested and taken away from the scene by police.

Reconciliation Place on the shore of Lake Burley Griffin was packed with noisy pro-China spectators well before dawn.

Olympic relay committee chairman Ted Quinlan told ABC Radio the presence of large numbers of pro-China visitors appeared to be a well-organised move to carry the day by sheer weight of numbers.

He admitted the number of China supporters had come as a surprise to organisers.

“We didn’t expect this reaction from the Chinese community which is obviously a well-coordinated plan to take the day by weight of numbers,” he said. “We have assurances that it will be done peacefully.”

Olympic Committee representative Kevin Gosper said the Canberra leg of the torch relay had “not gone as smoothly as expected”. But while there had been some tension, the general mood of the morning was still peaceful.

“We’re hopeful it will be a peaceful torch relay, as long as it stays that way we hope it will be a very successful relay,” Mr Gosper told Channel 9. “The general atmosphere is very good there are a lot of Canberra people out, while there have been a few isolated incidents the general atmosphere is peaceful.”

With AAP

Source: Olympic torch relay tours Canberra | NEWS.com.au