The "Shanghai 18" have finally been selected and will proudly bear the Beijing Olympic Games torch in the Paris of the East.

It was high times when the 18 Shanghai people chosen to bear the 2008 Olympic torch through their home city got together on Saturday. They won out after a four-month competition and come from many walks of life.

They come from many walks of life and include a retired judge, a senior school student, a sports reporter and a social worker.

The selection comes after an intense four-month competition.

The torch relay, with the lucky 18, will take in Shanghai and neighboring Suzhou, Jiaxing and Nantong in Jiangsu Province on May 20-21.

The torch-bearer list will be presented to the Beijing Olympic Games Organizing Committee at the end of this month for final approval.

Local qualified candidates had their first interview on September 22 when 36 people were selected out of 100.

Then the personal information of the 36 candidates was released on www.icoke.com and public votes were taken into account.

The final contest took place on Saturday afternoon when judges picked the final 18 based on their performances on the scene as well as the votes through SMS and the Internet.

They also took into consideration the occupations and ages of the contestants.

Huang Xiaobo, 26, a PE teacher, said being an Olympic Games athlete was always his dream, however, being a torch bearer is a gold medal.

"I once competed against world champion Liu Xiang in the 110-meter hurdle during a national university students sports meet," said Huang.

"Though I failed by one second, the experience always encouraged me to carry on sports as my career."

Compared with other torch-bearers, Zhu Junxian, 70, has much more experience related to sports and the Olympics. He has ridden a bike to Tibet four times since his retirement as a judge.

Zhu's most noted feat occurred on April 6, 2001, when he kicked off a bike tour around the country to support the bid for the 2008 Olympics.

He returned to Shanghai 302 days later after covering 19,000 kilometers, setting a record of the longest journey by a single cyclist recognized by the Guinness World Records.

"It is my lifelong pursuit to carry forward the spirit of sports and the Olympics," Zhu said.

"And it will be such an honor for me to pass on the Olympic torch in person."

(Shanghai Daily October 22, 2007)