A FORMER Wallasey resident now living in China was given the honour of being one of the Olympic torch bearers as it passed through her province of Hebei.

Wilma O’Sullivan, 52, was asked to carry the torch as she was one of a number of foreign workers to be acknowledged nationally for her contribution to education in China.

She was given the National Friendship award in 2006 and was invited by the government for a week’s holiday along with 49 other recipients that year.

Following that she appeared on television for a month filming her work for the city and provincial TV.

Wilma, a member of the Baha i Faith which believes in the unity of mankind, left Wirral for China in 1995 to become a teacher of English and has now been living there for thirteen years.

“It was a great and fantastic honour to carry the torch,” said Wilma, “and best of all I get to keep it.

“All bearers pass the flame and keep the torch,” said Wilma.

The flame is a symbol of the Games with its origins lying in ancient Greece when a fire was kept burning throughout the celebration of the ancient Olympics.

The fire was reintroduced at the 1928 summer Olympics in Amsterdam and it has been part of the games ever since.

The Olympic torch relay ends on the day of the opening ceremony in the central stadium of the games.

The final carrier is often kept secret until the last moment and is usually a sports celebrity of the host country. It is considered a great honour to be asked to light the flame. The nominated person runs towards the cauldron, often placed at the top of a grand staircase and then use the torch to start the flame in the stadium. After being lit, the flame continues to burn throughout the Olympics and is extinguished on the day of the closing ceremony.

It has become a symbol of the peace between the continents.