Norman Bellingham (R), chief Operating Officer of the United States Olympic Committee, gives the torch to torchbearer Lin Li at the McCovey Cove, the start of the Olympic torch relay in San Francisco, the United States, April 9, 2008. San Francisco is the sixth stop of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games torch relay outside the Chinese mainland. (Xinhua Photo) Photo Gallery>>>

Torchbearer Edwin M. Lee (L), the city administrator of San Francisco, and a female torchbearer run with the torch in San Francisco, the United States, April 9, 2008. San Francisco is the sixth stop of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games torch relay outside the Chinese mainland. (Xinhua Photo) Photo Gallery>>>

    SAN FRANCISCO, April 9 (Xinhua) -- The Olympic torch relay is underway in the western coastal city of San Francisco on Wednesday.

    Chinese Olympic swimming champion Lin Li, who was the first runner of the San Francisco relay, began her run by holding the torch high and waving to a cheering crowd.

    San Francisco police announced the route had been changed, but didn't give the details, according to local TV KRON4.

    At one point, Tibetan separatists tried to disrupt the torch relay. They tried to grab the torch, but were pushed back by police escorting the torch relay, a Xinhua correspondent witnessed.

    Thousands of people gathered along the route of the relay under a sunny sky to show their support for the torch run in the U.S. city, which is the sixth leg of the torch's global journey.

    Supporters of China's role as host of the Games were upholding Chinese national flags and displaying the Beijing Olympic mascot Fuwa on the city's waterfront.

    Dozens of women dressed in red performed a drum dance to entertain people, drawing applauses from spectators. One dancer, Li Hua, told Xinhua that they traveled about 5 hundred miles from Los Angeles to witness the historic torch relay.

    Siu Yuen Chung, Chairman of the Chinese American Association of Commerce (CAAC), said before the start of the torch relay that, to give the Olympic flame a spectacular reception, tens of thousands of Chinese Americans will come out to cheer the torch relay.

    While anxiously expecting the torch relay, many San Francisco citizens expressed dismay at attempts to link the Olympic Games with politics.

    Shirley Olivo, a 75-year-old San Francisco native and grandmother of a Special Olympian, said carrying the torch and the Olympics shouldn't really be about politics.

Special report:   2008 Olympic Games

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