Boy, 12, poised for Torch relay

May 20 2012

The London 2012 torch relay has entered its second day.

Communities stretching from Plymouth to Exeter will see dozens of unsung and hardworking individuals get their moment in the spotlight.

The torchbearers range in age from 12-year-old Henry De Trogoff to 72-year-old Jacques Collet. Henry will be among the youngest of the 8,000 torchbearers who will carry the Olympic Flame on the way to the July 27 opening ceremony. The youngster from Paris will carry the flame through Paignton.

His nomination tells of how he tries to push his friends to make good, to be a peacemaker at school when children fight and to help with daily tasks. He does this "always with a smile," it said.

Mr Collet, of Les Noyrelles, will carry the flame through Paignton after more than 50 years as a volunteer with the French Athletism Federation.

The former junior international athlete became a trainer after getting injured and helped others at national level. He organised the pole-vaulting masters in Grenoble, is a French Federation of Athletism Federal referee and has won the FFA Platinum.

There is also 69-year-old great grandmother Yvonne Budd who gets to carry the flame in her hometown of Exeter.

She has worked at Exeter Gymnastics Club since 1972 and Olympic gymnastics has been her "life time passion giving hundreds of children the opportunity of participation" her nomination said.

She is still actively coaching four nights a week for three hours at a time, attending competitions and remains as dedicated as ever. She enthusiastically has helped the club membership grow from 90 to over 1,100 in the past 40 years.

Organisers will be hoping for a repeat of the packed out scenes that were part of the first day excited people lined the streets in Cornwall to catch a glimpse of the torch.