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Oops! Olympic Torch Briefly Extinguished During White Water Rafting Ride

Oops! Olympic Torch Briefly Extinguished During White Water Rafting Ride

"Successfully taken down the course on the second attempt."

Olympic torch raft

The Olympic torch was splashed out briefly Saturday during a trip around a white water rafting course in the London area.

According to the Telegraph, 20-year-old British junior team canoeist Zachary Franklin held the torch aloft during a ride on the slalom course at the Lee Valley White Water Center. He "kept the flame well away from the water" until the speed and splashing evidently proved too much.

The torch was relit by a backup flame once it was back on dry land.

"It is not uncommon for a flame to go out and this can happen for a number of reasons," a London Olympic organizing committee spokesman said, according to the Daily Mail. "In this instance it was due to water being splashed into the boat from the slalom course. It was relit from the mother flame, which is kept in a specially designed miners’ lantern and successfully taken down the course on the second attempt."

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