Lord Coe to carry Olympic torch (From Bridgwater Mercury)

Lord Coe to carry Olympic torch

3:01am Monday 25th June 2012 in National News © Press Association 2013

Lord Coe - the man most closely associated with London 2012 - is to carry the Olympic Torch as it continues its tour of the UK.

The flame returned to Yorkshire on Sunday after crossing The Pennines from Manchester.

After an early start in Leeds, the torch will travel through West and South Yorkshire before ending up in Lord Coe's home city - Sheffield.

The double Olympic gold medallist was one of the key figures in securing the Games for London and is the chairman of the committee organising the spectacle.

Lord Coe will carry the torch in Sheffield city centre before a celebration event expected to attract thousands of people.

Among the scores of other torchbearers will be Steven Tomlinson, son of the late inspirational charity fundraiser Jane Tomlinson. Steven, 14, will carry the flame in Leeds.

His mother, who died from cancer in 2007 at the age of 43, carried the torch ahead of the 2004 Games in Athens. She inspired thousands of people as she defied experts and spent seven years raising more than £1.8 million in a series of endurance challenges.

Since her death, her family, including Steven, have continued staging dramatic challenges and have raised a huge amount of further cash.

Steven is one of two official nominations by the City of Leeds to carry the torch. The other is Aidan Dixon, 18, who turned around a troubled early life to inspire young people in the city.

Among the other highlights of the torch's journey through Yorkshire are visits to the Yorkshire Sculpture Park and the National Coal Mining Museum, both near Wakefield.