Turning Up The Heat

? June 20--21, Lhasa: Reports last week said Chinese officials are determined to cull Tibet of dissidents, and organizers insist the torch will make its way through the capital.

Upon awarding the Games to Beijing in 2001, the IOC said it wanted to encourage China to live up to the standard for human rights written into the Olympic Charter. Over 123 more days, 77,698 more miles and four more continents, the relay will, in fits and starts, subject the host nation not just to the light of the torch, but also to the light of international scrutiny. So too will the Olympics themselves—and that's reason enough that they go on.

NOW ON SI.COM
For Austin Murphy's on-the-scene coverage of the Olympic Torch Relay as it passes through San Francisco on Wednesday, go to SI.com.