San Francisco's large Chinese community turned out to welcome the torch [AFP]

Officials cancelled the planned closing ceremony on the waterfront and changed the location at the last minute to the San Francisco airport on Wednesday.
 
But the flame was not even displayed there. Instead, it was put directly on an aircraft for its next leg in Buenos Aires, Argentina, without a formal goodbye on its only American stop on the symbolic journey to the Beijing Games.
 
The ignominious exit was the culmination of a chaotic day in which the route of the relay was altered and shortened after thousands of demonstrators – for and against China's hosting of the Olympics – turned out on the city's streets.

Brown boycott

It came as the British prime minister's office said Gordon Brown would skip the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics, a spokeswoman said.

Olympic torch relay

Modern tradition of torch relay began in 1936 at Berlin Olympics

This year's is the longest ever, travelling 137,000km

The torch will visit 19 nations over 130 days

First destination is Kazakhstan

On the final leg, it will travel throughout China, including Tibet and the summit of Mount Everest

The White House has not ruled out a boycott of the Beijing Games but George Bush, the US president, has said that he will attend the opening ceremony.
 
On Wednesday Barack Obama, the Democratic presidential candidate, called on Bush to boycott the Olympics if China failed to improve its human rights in Tibet and Darfur.
 
Last week Democrats in the US congress led by Nancy Pelosi, the House speaker, urged Bush to consider a boycott to protest against China's crackdown on demonstrators in Tibet.
 
Hours before the San Francisco relay, Bush had urged China to open a dialogue with the Dalai Lama, Tibet's spiritual leader in exile, saying "it would stand the Chinese government in good stead if they would begin a dialogue with the representatives of the Dalai Lama".
 
In San Francisco, the Olympic torch was drive more than a kilometre away from its planned route, away from China supporters as well as protesters against the Beijing government.

Two runners then carried the torch down a main road flanked by police and Chinese security officials.
 
Protesters had targeted the route of the torch in London and Paris in the past week over a range of China issues from its recent crackdown on Tibet to human rights.
 
Beijing has strongly condemned the protests.
 
Gavin Newsom, the mayor of San Francisco, said the torch route had to be changed at the last minute or the event cancelled to assure public safety.
 
"It did not appear to be doable with the crowds," Newsom said.
 
Torch 'disappears'
 
As the ceremony began, the first torchbearer took the flame from a lantern brought to the stage and held it aloft before quickly departing again into a warehouse.

China's Olympic flame guardians

'Flame protection squad' formed in August 2007

Tasked with protecting the flame 24 hours a day

Members picked from People's Armed Police, usually responsible for riot control and domestic stability

Training for squad included running 10km a day on mountain roads

One team, with 30 members, accompanies the torch on its international legs

Second team, with 40 guards, protects the flame in China 

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