PETALING JAYA: Carrying the Olympic torch through the streets of Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, in England was a proud moment for Tan Sri Tony Fernandes.
The AirAsia Group CEO said he was overwhelmed by the support of the locals who came in droves to watch him carry the torch along Hartford Road near Huntingdon. “Fantastic experience running. Proud to represent Malaysia. Despite the rain, the English came out in full force. A real experience,” he said in an e-mail statement to The Star. The torch run became a reality after Fernandes, who is Caterham F1 team principal, was invited by the racing team's official partner GE, to take part.
Proud moment: Fernandes posing with the Olympic torch. — Picture courtesy of Caterham F1 Team
An avid Twitter user, he also received plenty of encouragement from Twitter users from all over the world. The official AirAsia Twitter account said: “All the best to our Group CEO @tonyfernandes who will be joining the Olympic torch run for #London2012 !”.
“Make sure u finish the run, don't stop halfway ha ha,” tweeted Naza Group of Companies joint group executive chairman SM Nasarudin SM Nasimuddin, who is also Caterham deputy team principal. “No worries. Trained by mark hughes,” Fernandes replied, referring to the Queens Park Rangers (QPR) manager. Fernandes is also chairman of the English football club.
Despite the exhausting early morning run, Fernandes took it in his stride and clearly enjoyed the ride until the event was over. “Olympic torch run done. What an amazing feeling. Really enjoyed. Any longer may have struggled hahahaha,” he said in a tweet.
Twitter user @graemehackland said: “Watched @tonyfernandes carry the Olympic torch through Huntingdon, huge beaming smile! Good luck getting to Silverstone now Tony”. Later, Fernandes rushed to Silverstone racing circuit in Northampton to catch his racing team at the British Grand Prix. The Olympic flame was on day 51 of a 70-day relay, which involved 8,000 torchbearers covering 12,874.7km.
-thestar online.
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