Carrying the Olympic torch can be a dangerous and stressful task. Last month, a bystander had to light the torch with his lighter after the flame went out during a relay. Earlier this week, something a little more dangerous happened. One of the torchbearers, former Olympic bobsledder Pyotr Makarchuk, accidentally lit himself on fire.
Fortunately, no one was injured. Some of the fuel from the torch dripped onto the torchbearer’s jacket as he was carrying it through the Siberian city of Abakan on Wednesday. According to Deadspin, some of Makarchuk’s escorts quickly put out the fire that was burning on his shoulder. In the future, I’m sure he will carry the torch out in front of himself a bit more. The last thing we want to see is a flaming head.
