The torch was on the side of David Follett's wheelchair in Great Torrington, Devon, when it went out for the first time since arriving in Britain ahead of the Olympics.

A replacement flame was brought from the vehicle convoy that accompanies the torch bearers.

A spokesman for Locog said: "The flame went out due to a malfunctioning burner. It is not uncommon for a flame to go out and this can happen for a number of reasons, for example, in extreme winds.

"We keep the mother flame in specially designed miners' lanterns so if the flame does go out for some reason on the relay we re-light it from the source of the flame."

Follett, a wheelchair badminton champion from nearby Exeter, was able to continue using a substitute torch which had been lit from the mother flame.

The Olympic torches were designed in London by Edward Barber and Jay Osgerby, who commended its ability to withstand adverse weather and stay lit in an interview last week.
"The torch had to be economical and sustainable as well as being beautiful and strong, so it’s an incredibly complicated piece of design," they said.

"It has to function at high altitudes, sub-zero temperatures, in strong winds and also be incredibly light as so many different types of people will be carrying it."

The flame is supposed to remain alight even in high winds because of a gas burner system held in the centre of the torch which emits a gas mix that optimises flame height, colour and luminosity.

The relay is in its third day and the torch is travelling between Exeter and Taunton. Former Long jump gold medal winner Jonathan Edwards and cricketer Marcus Trescothick are among Monday's runners.

This is not the first occasion on which the Olympic flame has been extinguished in recent days. A gust of wind blew out the flame during a ceremony in Olympia, Greece while it was being held by an actress playing a high priestess who was re-enacting a scene from the ancient Olympics.

【新聞快訊】

5月21號(hào)，倫敦奧運(yùn)火炬英國境內(nèi)傳遞進(jìn)入第三天。就在這一天，火炬在傳遞過程中首次熄滅。當(dāng)天的傳遞在英國西南部德文郡進(jìn)行，英國輪椅羽毛球運(yùn)動(dòng)員弗利特正進(jìn)行火炬?zhèn)鬟f。隨后火炬里的火苗便被吹滅了，這是奧運(yùn)火炬來到英國后第一次熄滅。

見此情形，一旁的火炬護(hù)衛(wèi)手趕緊通知緊隨其后大巴上的工作人員將裝有火種的特制“礦工燈”火種罐帶到熄滅的火炬旁并試圖再次點(diǎn)燃熄滅的火炬，但并未成功點(diǎn)燃。工作人員立刻從隨行的大巴上取了另一支火炬代替熄滅的這柄，而后點(diǎn)燃，火炬接力得以繼續(xù)。

倫敦奧組委一位發(fā)言人表示，火炬熄滅是由于燃燒器故障導(dǎo)致的。她還指出，火炬熄滅并不罕見，在極端大風(fēng)的天氣等情況下都有可能發(fā)生。

奧運(yùn)火炬是在倫敦由Edward Barber 和 Jay Osgerby設(shè)計(jì)的。在上周的一次采訪中，兩位設(shè)計(jì)師表示：“奧運(yùn)火炬必須既美觀堅(jiān)固又持久耐用，因此這是一項(xiàng)非常復(fù)雜困難的設(shè)計(jì)。” 設(shè)計(jì)師表示，他們?cè)趯?shí)驗(yàn)室中模擬了時(shí)速80公里的強(qiáng)風(fēng)、高溫、零度低溫、暴雨等各種極端氣候現(xiàn)象，火炬在所有情況下都沒有熄滅。

這并不是此次奧運(yùn)火炬?zhèn)鬟f第一次發(fā)生故障。在希臘奧林匹亞舉行的一場(chǎng)慶典儀式上，一位希臘女演員在扮演女祭司重現(xiàn)古希臘的場(chǎng)景時(shí)，其手中的火炬也被強(qiáng)風(fēng)吹滅。

奧運(yùn)會(huì)火炬接力剛進(jìn)行了兩天，有人就把自己的火炬放到網(wǎng)上去競(jìng)賣，并且叫價(jià)已經(jīng)高達(dá)10萬多英鎊。在ebay網(wǎng)上，火炬主人說，他將在21日下午4點(diǎn)38分參加火炬接力，只要接力一完，他就可以將火炬快遞給買家。賣家一再保證火炬是真的。賣主將火炬與其接力時(shí)穿的運(yùn)動(dòng)服一起出售，且再三強(qiáng)調(diào)，一經(jīng)售出，絕不退換。