Is is it a cheese grater? Golden Olympic 2012 torch unveiled that will be carried by 8,000 runners

Lord Coe forced to defend ticket allocation process
This is the golden torch that will be carried by the 8,000 runners on the London 2012 relay.

The Olympic Flame will burn from a curved triangular aluminium tube which has a lace-like mesh complete with 8,000 holes - one to represent each torchbearer.
But some critics have taken to the internet to label the design of the torch reminiscent of a 'cheese grater'.
And one Twitter user pointed out: 'I had a muffler like this on my '54 Ford'.

Golden triangle: London 2012 chairman Lord Coe holds the three-cornered torch aloft as he unveils the design today

The triangular shape of the torch also symbolises the three times that London has staged the Games - 1908, 1948 and 2012. This is a special feat in Olympic history.
The torch, which will carry the Olympic Flame to the London 2012 Games opening ceremony, has been created by design duo Edward Barber and Jay Osgerby.

 

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London 2012 chairman Lord Coe said: 'The torch that carries the Olympic Flame during the Olympic Torch Relay is one of the most recognisable and significant symbols of an Olympic Games.
'Members of the public right across the UK are busy nominating inspiring people to be torchbearers and I am thrilled we have a beautifully-designed, engineered and crafted torch for them to carry.

New and old: The 2012 torch, left, contains 8,000 holes to represent every runner, and right, the 1948 versions from the last time London hosted the Games

Denise Lewis, who won the gold medal in the heptathlon at the 2000 Olympics in sydney, with London 2012 torch

'Integral to the design are the 8,000 circles, a lasting representation of the torchbearer stories of personal achievement or contribution to their local community that will be showcased with every step of the relay.'
London 2012's Olympic torch relay will start on May 19 in Land's End and travel as far as the outer Hebrides.
An average of 110 people a day will take centre stage by carrying the Olympic Flame on its journey around the UK before it arrives at the Olympic Stadium on July 27 for the lighting of the cauldron at the Opening Ceremony, signifying the start of the London 2012 Olympic Games.
The aim is that 95 per cent of the UK population will be within a one-hour journey time of the Olympic torch relay.
Mr Barber and Mr Osgerby have achieved worldwide success by creating innovative furniture and products from a range of materials since opening their studio in 1996.
The pair, who are both professors of design, are based in Shoreditch, east London, less than four miles from the Olympic Stadium in Stratford.

1936 Berlin Games

1968 Mexico Games

1976 Montreal Games

Los Angeles 1980

Seoul Games 1988

Sydney Games 2000

They won a competitive tender, run by London 2012 and the Design Council, to create the torch.
They described it as 'quite simply the best project going - to design an icon for the Games'.
In a statement they said: 'We've wanted to be involved since July 2005 when we were celebrating winning the bid with the rest of the UK.
'We have worked hard to develop a torch that celebrates the relay, and reflects the passion for London and the Olympic Games.
'We wanted to make the most of pioneering production technologies and to demonstrate the industrial excellence available in the UK - it's a torch for our time.

Lord Coe and Denise Lewis at St Pancras station in London for the launch of the torch design

'This is our opportunity to represent the UK, in design terms, and we are incredibly proud to be doing so.'
London 2012 wants half of the 8,000 torch relay runners to be aged between 12 and 24 and the rest to include people with a story of achievement or contribution to the local community.
The public can nominate people for the role.
Lord Coe was again forced to defend the Olympic ticketing process today, saying people must not be 'coy or naive' about the funding provided by businesses that have been given tickets.
Speaking on BBC Breakfast, he said corporate allocations accounted for only 8 per cent of the total number of tickets available.
There has been indignation over tour operators including Thomas Cook that are now offering Olympic packages with tickets at significantly higher prices.
Lord Coe said: 'The corporates are responsible for about 8 per cent of the tickets, the high end ticket packages are actually only 1 per cent of tickets.
'The corporates in large part pay for the Games, we shouldn't be coy or naive about that.
'Twenty five per cent of the operating budget for the staging of the Games comes from ticket sales, and the corporates are probably collectively contributing about £1.5 billion to what we're actually doing.'
He said organisers were obliged to give one million tickets to overseas federations, including football governing body Fifa, which was recently embroiled in a scandal over alleged corruption.
'A percentage of those tickets go to international federations and governing bodies,' Lord Coe said. 'Fifa is an international federation. We are obliged to do that.'

Visits: The 8,000 runners will carry the torch across Britain taking in these major areas during the 70-day relay