Jenny Bowen, pictured with her daughters, Anya and Maya. Bowen has been selected as the only American to run on Chinese soil with the Olympic torch before next year's Beijing Summer Games.

    Jenny Bowen, an American living in Beijing, has been selected as the only American to carry the 2008 Beijing Olympic torch on Chinese soil next year. She and seven other non-Chinese winners were chosen from a pool of 262 applicants from 47 countries in a contest organized by Chinese computer maker Lenovo Group and the official English-language newspaper, China Daily.

    When Bowen runs with the Olympic torch next year, she will not only be representing the United States. She will also be representing thousands of Chinese orphans, ABC news said.

    Bowen, a mother of two adopted Chinese daughters, is executive director of Half the Sky Foundation, an organization which was established in 1998 and aims to enrich the lives and enhance the prospects for orphaned children in China.

    Nearly 10 years later, Bowen and Half the Sky have touched the lives of over 13,000 children.

    Half the Sky is now present in 36 welfare institutions in 28 Chinese cities. Approximately 4,000 children are active in the program, which provides trained staff, educational tools, medical support and nurturing love to orphans.

    Bowen hopes that running with the Olympic torch next year will help draw attention to the children in China. She will be among 19,400 runners who will carry the flame along an 85,000-mile, 130-day route across five continents. Beijing organizers say it will be the longest torch relay in Olympic history.

    Like Bowen, the seven other non-Chinese winners, who include a German engineer and a Venezuelan graphic designer, live in China. Other countries represented will be the Philippines, Colombia, India, Japan and Russia.

    According to Olympic organizers, candidates were selected based on an online vote, committee selection, their "love of Chinese culture and history" and devotion to "[communicating] information of a real China to their native countries."

    Each runner will carry the torch for 200 meters on Chinese soil

    由聯(lián)想集團(tuán)及中國(guó)官方英文媒體《中國(guó)日?qǐng)?bào)》聯(lián)合舉辦的“聯(lián)想在華外國(guó)人奧運(yùn)火炬手”選拔活動(dòng)最終結(jié)果日前揭曉。生活在北京的博珍妮將成為2008年為北京奧運(yùn)會(huì)傳遞火炬的唯一一位美國(guó)人。該選拔活動(dòng)共吸引了來(lái)自47個(gè)國(guó)家的262名在華外籍人士報(bào)名參加。 博珍妮等八位外籍人士從其中脫穎而出。

    美國(guó)廣播公司報(bào)道說(shuō)，博珍妮明年在中國(guó)傳遞奧運(yùn)火炬時(shí)，她不僅將代表美國(guó)，還將代表中國(guó)數(shù)千名孤兒。

    博珍妮在中國(guó)收養(yǎng)了兩個(gè)女兒，她目前是“半邊天基金會(huì)”的執(zhí)行主席。“半邊天基金會(huì)”成立于1998年，旨在幫助改善和提高中國(guó)孤兒的生活境況。

    近十年來(lái)，博珍妮和她的“半邊天基金會(huì)”共幫助了1萬(wàn)3千多名孤兒。目前，“半邊天基金會(huì)”共在中國(guó)28個(gè)城市的36家福利院開(kāi)展福利項(xiàng)目，該項(xiàng)目共涉及約4000名孤兒，主要為他們提供培訓(xùn)教師、教學(xué)器材與醫(yī)療保障，并給予他們撫慰和關(guān)愛(ài)。

    博珍妮希望，自己擔(dān)任奧運(yùn)火炬手能吸引更多的人關(guān)注中國(guó)兒童。北京2008年奧運(yùn)會(huì)的境內(nèi)奧運(yùn)火炬?zhèn)鬟f手共有19400名，火炬?zhèn)鬟f路線(xiàn)長(zhǎng)達(dá)85000英里，途經(jīng)五大洲，火炬?zhèn)鬟f將為期130天。北京奧組委稱(chēng)，北京奧運(yùn)會(huì)的火炬?zhèn)鬟f路線(xiàn)將成為奧運(yùn)歷史上最長(zhǎng)的火炬?zhèn)鬟f路線(xiàn)。

    除美國(guó)的博珍妮外，其他七位“老外奧運(yùn)火炬手”包括，來(lái)自德國(guó)的一名工程師、來(lái)自委內(nèi)瑞拉的一位美術(shù)設(shè)計(jì)師及分別來(lái)自菲律賓、哥倫比亞、印度、日本和俄羅斯的五位在華人士。

    據(jù)北京奧組委介紹，“聯(lián)想在華外國(guó)人奧運(yùn)火炬手”選拔活動(dòng)包括網(wǎng)上投票和選拔委員會(huì)評(píng)定兩個(gè)階段，其選拔標(biāo)準(zhǔn)包括“熱愛(ài)中國(guó)文化和歷史”及“為推動(dòng)中外友好關(guān)系做出貢獻(xiàn)”等。

    每位奧運(yùn)火炬?zhèn)鬟f手將手持圣火跑200米。