BEIJING, Nov. 2-- They come from eight different
countries but have one thing in common: A love for China.
Their understanding of the
country is profound; their commitment uplifting; their vision inspiring, and
their passion contagious.
And they moved many as they articulated why they
deserve to be the eight foreigners privileged to carry the Olympic torch in
China.
Thursday, they were unveiled by computer maker Lenovo
as the eight expats nominated after a month-long online campaign.
Applicants were asked to submit a profile justifying
their candidacy, then frogmarched through a public online vote. After that, a
selection panel made up of Lenovo Group officials and China Daily executives had
the final say.
In a bid to restrict the winners to one per country,
and keep the program as cosmopolitan as possible, two Americans were axed from
the final list despite garnering enough votes to secure a
place.
The eight foreign residents who will
each carry the torch for 200 meters on Chinese soil next year are, in order of
winning votes: Jenny Bowen of the US, Marcos Torres of the Philippines, Werner
Ebel of Germany, Meena Barot of India, Yoshitoshi Mizuya of Japan, Luis
Hong-Sanchez of Colombia, Yury Ilyakhin of Russia and British-Venezuelan Deirdre
Smyth.
|
Jenny Bowen:
American |
Marcos Torres:
Filipino |
|
Werner Ebel: German
|
Meena Barot: Indian
|
|
Luis Hong-Sanchez: Colombian |
Yoshitoshi Mizuya:
Japanese
|
|
Yury Ilyakhin:
Russian |
Deirdre Smyth:
British/Venezuelan |
The campaign was organized by Lenovo Group, the
worldwide partner of the Olympic torch relay, with the help of China Daily, the
country's only national English-language newspaper.
Some 262 people from 47 countries and regions vied
for the eight available slots and another 245,000 voted with their mouse.
Altogether, 1.5 million people comprising 156 nationalities visited the campaign
web page.
Applicants, votes and comments poured in from all
around the world after the online campaign began on September 7, said Alice Li,
vice-president, Olympic Marketing of Lenovo.
"This demonstration of enthusiasm, creativity and
sense of international community is consistent with the Olympic spirit, which
cherishes the participation and unification of different cultures and peoples,"
she said. "It greatly helped Lenovo increase its brand influence."
The winners were chosen by a vote, but in order to be
shortlisted they had to demonstrate their appreciation of Chinese culture and
history and their devotion to communicating information about "the real China"
to the rest of the world.
The oldest contestant was 88-year-old Eleanor Liu and
the youngest was four-year-old Serena Gao. Both were born in the United States.
Although Gao ranked sixth according to the number of
votes, she was disqualified for not meeting the minimum age requirement of 14.
Many prominent political figures, including the
ambassadors of Greece and the Seychelles, could not make it to the final eight,
as did leading business figures like the presidents of Bayer Healthcare and
Chang'an Ford Mazda Automobile Co.
In the campaign, as in the Olympics, contestants
entered a very level playing field and performed according to their own merit.
In addition to the required campaign stories, themed
"China and I", which were published on the China Daily website along with the
candidates' photos, some applicants engaged a variety of mass media to promote
themselves.
Some cooperated with newspapers, television and radio
station in China or in their home country to solicit votes, others opted for
personal blogs.
Some formed groups on popular social networking
websites like FaceBook, while others uploaded campaign videos on websites like
Youtube.
The organizers of the Beijing Olympic Games began
recruiting 21,880 torchbearers from around the world on June 23 through various
organizations and entities.
Exactly 19,400 people will be picked to run in
China.
(Source: China Daily)
