Olympic torch survives

The Olympic Games torch avoided another saboteur on Friday in its journey to reach Sydney intact.

In the latest hijack attempt, a teenager tried to snatch the flame from a female runner on the New South Wales north coast. The torch bearer beat back the attempt and the teenager was arrested after a short chase by police.

Just 24 hours earlier, a high school student tried to douse the torch with a fire extinguisher. The 17-year-old youth, described by friends as a "real goose", stepped out of a crowd watching the torch relay into the path of the runner and pulled out a small fire extinguisher from under his coat. He succeeded only in spraying the runner and bystanders, with the flame remaining untouched.

There have now been three attempts to disrupt the months-long torch relay, which will have been carried by over 10,000 runners on a journey from Athens to Sydney. In the first incident last month, a teenager again unsuccessfully tried to grab the torch from the official runner. Sydney Games organisers said they saw no reason to review security arrangements.