BOCOG to scale down torch relay post-quake

The Beijing Olympic organizing committee, BOCOG, announced that the Olympic torch relay would be cut back after an outcry from internet users over the continuation of the relay as planned following the earthquake in Sichuan on Monday, AFP reported. On one online forum, a commenter called it "inhuman" that the relay was to go on in light of the disaster. BOCOG spokesman Sun Weide said that while there were no plans to shorten the relay, a number of ceremonies would be scaled down and a minute of silence would be observed before runners set off. "We will be cutting down on the speeches and the singing and dancing that have marked the relay so far and it will be a much simpler affair with fewer people involved," Sun said.