VANCOUVER — Some people in Vancouver are scratching their heads that the torch relay for the Beijing Summer Olympic Games won't be making a stop in Vancouver, site of the Winter Games two years from now.
But local organizers for the 2010 Games say there's nothing unusual about the torch not touching down in the next Olympic city.
The torch began its journey to Beijing on Monday after a protest-marred lighting ceremony at Mount Olympus in Greece and will make only one North American stop, in San Francisco on April 9.
While some see it as a missed opportunity to promote the 2010 Winter Games, Vancouver Olympic organizers say the decision is up to the Beijing organizing committee and there's no tradition of having the torch go through the next host country.
The Beijing Paralympic Games torch is expected to make its way through Vancouver later this year.
