SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS/AP) -- The IOC expressed relief Thursday that the torch relay passed off without major incident in San Francisco, and reaffirmed the right of free speech for athletes at the Beijing Olympics.
International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge said the San Francisco relay had ``fortunately'' avoided much of the turmoil and disruptions that marred the legs in London and Paris.
``It was, however, not the joyous party that we had wished it to be,'' he said at the opening of a two-day IOC executive board meeting in Beijing. ``Athletes in many countries are in disarray and we need to reassure them. Our major responsibility is to offer them the games they deserve. ... We have 120 days to achieve this.''
 The Olympic torch was rerouted away from thousands of demonstrators and spectators who crowded the city's waterfront Wednesday to witness the flame's symbolic journey to the Beijing Games.
The planned closing ceremony at the San Francisco Bay waterfront was canceled and a smaller, quieter and shorter event took place at San Francisco International Airport, before the flame headed off to Buenos Aires, Argentina.
The last-minute changes were made amid security concerns following chaotic protests over the torch in Paris and London.
Mayor Gavin Newsom told KCBS that the well choreographed fake-out was prompted by the size and behavior of the crowds amassing outside AT&T Park, site of the relay's opening ceremony.
There was ``a disproportionate concentration of people in and around the start of the relay,'' he said in a phone interview, while traveling in a caravan that accompanied the torch.
 Interview: Mayor Gavin Newsom Defends Route Change
Less than an hour before the relay began, officials cut the original six-mile route nearly in half.
 Then, at the opening ceremony, the first torchbearer took the flame from a lantern brought to the stage and held it aloft before running into a warehouse. A motorcycle escort departed, but the torchbearer was nowhere in sight.
Officials drove the Olympic torch about a mile inland and handed it off to two runners away from protesters and media, and they began jogging toward the Golden Gate Bridge, in the opposite direction of the crowds awaiting its passing. Further confusion followed, with the torch convoy apparently stopped near the bridge before heading southward to the airport, where a closing ceremony on the tarmac took place.
Disappointment at the Waterfront
As the flame traveled toward the airport, news slowly dribbled through the crowds of more than 10,000 spectators and protesters gathered at the waterfront that the torch would not be headed there.
Spectator Dave Dummer said he was disappointed.
``That upsets me,'' Dummer said. ``My back hurts from standing around on this lumpy sidewalk. ... This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and other people messed it up by protesting.''
Interview: Supervisor Aaron Peskin Critical of Route Change
Tension Before Opening Ceremony
 There were signs of tension even before the torch relay began. Pro-Tibet and pro-China groups were given side-by-side permits to demonstrate, and representatives from both sides spilled from their sanctioned sites across a major street and shouted at each other nose to nose, with no visible police presence to separate them.
At least one torchbearer decided to show her support for Tibetan independence during her moment in the spotlight. After being passed the Olympic flame, Majora Carter pulled out a small Tibetan flag that she had hidden in her shirt sleeve.
``The Chinese security and cops were on me like white on rice, it was no joke,'' said Carter, 41, who runs a nonprofit organization in New York. ``They pulled me out of the race, and then San Francisco police officers pushed me back into the crowd on the side of the street.''
The torch's 85,000-mile, 20-nation global journey is the longest in Olympic history, and is meant to build excitement for the Beijing Games. But it has also been targeted by activists angered over China's human rights record.
Future of Olympic Torch Relay
The Olympic flame began its worldwide trek from Ancient Olympia in Greece to Beijing on March 24, and was the focus of protests right from the start.
IOC president Jacques Rogge met with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao on Wednesday to discuss preparations for the games, and ``a range of games topics were discussed,'' the IOC said.
Rogge is to give more details at a news conference Friday, when the IOC's executive board is to discuss Friday whether to end the remaining international legs of the relay after San Francisco because of widespread protest. The torch is scheduled to travel to Buenos Aires, Argentina, and then to a dozen other countries before arriving in China on May 4. The Olympics begin Aug. 8.
Meanwhile Wednesday, the White House said anew that Bush would attend the Olympics, but left open the possibility that he would skip the opening ceremonies. Asked whether Bush would go to that portion of the games, White House press secretary Dana Perino demurred, citing the fluid nature of a foreign trip schedule this far out and the many factors that go into devising it.
``I would again reiterate that the president has been very clear that he believes that the right thing for him to do is to continue to press the Chinese on a range of issues, from human rights and democracy, political speech freedoms and religious tolerance, and to do that publicly and privately, before, during and after the Olympics,'' she said.
Related Links
KCBS Expanded Coverage: Olympic Torch Relay
Forum: Your Thoughts on the Protests
(Photos from CBS News and CBS 5)
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