Confusion reigned supreme in San Francisco yesterday as the Olympic torch relay turned into a city-wide game of hide and seek.

Fearful of the violence and disruption that marred the torch's passage through Paris and London earlier this week, the San Francisco authorities implemented a last minute change of plan, diverting the torch away from the waterfront route that it had been expected to follow.

The switch hoodwinked thousands of protesters, supporters, sightseers and the world's media leaving a wave of disappointed people in its wake.

Mary Lou Bradley came to see the flame but after several hours of waiting was left without even a glimpse.

"I am so disappointed," she said. "This amount of secrecy is just not necessary."

Her friend Linda Sweeney said:

"We have been duped. I feel cheated. We are not being allowed to celebrate a great day in San Francisco's history."

Yu Jian and Ben Liu of Los Angeles said they were also saddened by the turn of events. They had started their six-hour drive at midnight to make sure they would see the flame.

"We came for the torch and to support China," Liu said. "We wanted to give a different picture than what the Western media is presenting."

Meanwhile, the San Francisco Chronicle called it 'the biggest protest that never was'. In the end, there was no riot, just some skirmishes as pro-China supporters engaged in verbal sparring with pro-Tibet backers. When the route changed, both sides just shouted at each other.

"Go China, Go China" was followed by "Free Tibet. China Out."

Both pro- and anti-China groups interpreted the rerouted run as a victory.

The San Francisco Chronicle called it 'the biggest protest that never was'.

San Francisco Supervisor Chris Daly led a crowd in a Free Tibet chant and called on foreign dignitaries to boycott the Olympic opening ceremonies in Beijing in August.

"Today that torch was taken on its journey of shame away from the TV cameras, away from protesters away even from people who came to see it," said Daly, who was wearing a black headband with the words, "Free Tibet."

Gopal Dayaneni, an organizer with Students for a Free Tibet, three of whose members scaled the Golden Gate Bridge cables Monday to hang pro-Tibet banners, said Team Tibet was celebrating.

"We did what they said we couldn't do - we forced them to take another route and we remained nonviolent," he said. "They ran away in shame. The torch is no longer a symbol of the Olympics, it's a symbol of torture in Tibet."

But the China supporters were certainly not downtrodden.

"It's OK with me," said one, Xiaojing Yang. "We were here to express our opinions to the world, and we did that."

The International Olympic Committee said it would evaluate the torch run in San Francisco and decide whether to cancel the remainder of the torch's international route. The torch is next scheduled to appear in the Argentine capital of Buenas Aires.

Back in the UK, Prime Minister Gordon Brown has said that he will not attend the opening ceremony of the Olympic games in Beijing. However, he will be at the closing ceremony when the Olympic baton will be passed to London.

The article Olympic torch survives San Francisco originally appeared on 999 Today