Olympic glory?

That person will have the honour of carrying the flame through Luton on Sunday, July 8 next year when the London 2012 Olympic torch relay arrives here.

The flame will visit Luton for a celebration event showcasing the town’s heritage and culture.

Luton is one of 66 evening celebration locations across the UK confirmed by the London 2012 Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

But as our picture shows, the Olympic torch has been carried through the town before – nearly 58 years ago.

The two runners are pictured in Manchester Street on a wet day in October 1953, with some raincoat-wearing shoppers looking on.

So why was this parade happening five years after the 1948 London Olympics and the year after the 1952 Helsinki Games? Had the pair of athletes taken the wrong route and got lost on their way to Luton?

The answer can be found in that week’s edition of the Tuesday Pictorial, which was then a sister paper of the Luton News. The Pictorial reported that the event was a charity run by Loughborough College students and not linked to any particular Olympic Games.

According to the report, the photo shows the torch being passed between relay runners outside the old Luton News building on the corner of Manchester Street and Alma Street.

Can readers identify any of the shops?