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The Olympic torch was splashed out of its famed Eternal Flame as it passed through the canoe slalom venue in Hertfordshire today on board a raft as part of its journey around the country. Day 50 proved a tricky one for the torch relay, after a crash between two motorcycles earlier forced a delay and celebrity chef Jamie Oliver’s turn carrying the flame was marred by pouring rain. In the first setback for the day, the torch convoy was held up for 20 minutes after two motorbike riders collided near Chelmsford, Essex, at around 7.40am, and had to be rushed to hospital with suspected broken bones, the Daily Mail reported. Ambulances and a fire engine were called, and convoy doctors treated the male and female riders at the scene before the relay was able to proceed. Later, the torch arrived at Lee Valley White Water Centre near Waltham Cross, the canoe slalom venue, where it suffered the further hiccup. Despite the best efforts of British junior team canoeist Zachary Franklin, who held the flame aloft as the British men’s rafting team propelled him through the rapids, water splashing into the boat extinguished the flame. “It is not uncommon for a flame to go out and this can happen for a number of reasons,” a LOCOG spokesman said. “In this instance it was due to water being splashed into the boat from the slalom course. “It was relit from the mother flame, which is kept in a specially designed miners’ lantern and successfully taken down the course on the second attempt,” the spokesman said. It isn’t the first time the Olympic flame has gone out as it makes its way through the UK . Back on May 21, just three days into the relay, the flame on a torch attached to para-badminton star David Follett’s wheelchair burned out while in Devon . In another early hitch to proceedings, the flame was blown out by a gust of wind as it was being lit for the first time in Greece. It had to be relit before being handed to a torchbearer.

Olympic flame extinguished after torch sails on white water rafting boat