Uday Joshi presenter to run with Winter Olympic torch

Televisionpoint.com Correspondent
Uday Joshi, SportsCenter presenter will create history on January 18, 2006, by being the first man of Indian origin, to be one of the celebrity Torchbearers for the XXth Winter Olympics, which commenced in Genoa, Italy in December 2005.

The relay will culminate in the Italian city of Turin, covering a pathway of more than 11,000 km. Uday Joshi will be one of very few Asians to share the honors. By getting to run with the Winter Olympic flame, Uday finds himself in the August company of the likes of Joe Torre, coach of the New York Yankees, Italian football great Gianfranco Zola and other great sportspersons. More than 10,000 torchbearers will act as standard bearers of the Olympic Spirit, marching out with the flame.

On being part of the relay team, Uday Joshi, said "This is a big honor for me. I am personally very proud and happy to be a part of the relay. At the same time it is a very humbling experience to be suddenly pushed in an esteemed group of the biggest athletes in the world."

Though Uday has been born and brought up in Singapore, he is rooted to the city of Bhavnagar in Gujarat. He has been associated with ESPN Star Sports' popular news show, SportsCenter for over five years. As proof of pride and responsibility, the Torch Relay of Torino 2006 has warranted the active involvement of the highest national authorities and institutions. Recently, sports legends such as Carl Lewis, Pelé and historical leaders like Nelson Mandela have raised the torch to the sky.

The Torino 2006 Olympic Torch Relay began on 8 December 2005 in Rome and will tour the length and breadth of Italy for 64 days. It will cover a total distance of 11,300 km, visiting 140 cities, 107 provinces and all of Italy's regions, as well as the neighbouring National Olympic Committees (NOCs) of San Marino, Slovenia, Austria, Switzerland and France. There will be 10,001 torchbearers, who will carry the flame to Turin, where it will arrive on 10 February 2006.

The Olympic Winter Games will be held in Turin from 10 to 26 February 2006. The Winter Games comprise seven different sports and 15 different disciplines, which will be played out in eight different competition sites. Around 2,500 athletes, 650 judges and umpires and one million spectators are expected to participate in this 20th edition of the Winter Games.

SportsCenter is produced from ESPN Star Sports' 46,000 sq ft production facility in Singapore. SportsCenter accesses sports news clippings from ESPN SportsCenter, SNTV (Sports News Television) - a leading provider of sports news clippings, and Sky Sports. In addition to the international news, India-related news will be handled with resources placed in India. For every LIVE program broadcast of SportsCenter, ESPN Star Sports deploys a team of over 20 top-class international news and sports producers, presenters, technical/production assistants, editors and reporting crew. The team delivers a wealth of knowledge and experience from international and regional sports television scene including ESPN's SportsCenter, TWI, BBC, ITV, Hong Kong's TVB, Australia's Channel 9 Network, TV South Africa and Australian Broadcasting Corporation, according to a media release.