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

    由聯想集團及中國官方英文媒體《中國日報》聯合舉辦的“聯想在華外國人奧運火炬手”選拔活動最終結果日前揭曉。生活在北京的博珍妮將成為2008年為北京奧運會傳遞火炬的唯一一位美國人。該選拔活動共吸引了來自47個國家的262名在華外籍人士報名參加。 博珍妮等八位外籍人士從其中脫穎而出。

    美國廣播公司報道說，博珍妮明年在中國傳遞奧運火炬時，她不僅將代表美國，還將代表中國數千名孤兒。

    博珍妮在中國收養了兩個女兒，她目前是“半邊天基金會”的執行主席。“半邊天基金會”成立于1998年，旨在幫助改善和提高中國孤兒的生活境況。

    近十年來，博珍妮和她的“半邊天基金會”共幫助了1萬3千多名孤兒。目前，“半邊天基金會”共在中國28個城市的36家福利院開展福利項目，該項目共涉及約4000名孤兒，主要為他們提供培訓教師、教學器材與醫療保障，并給予他們撫慰和關愛。

    博珍妮希望，自己擔任奧運火炬手能吸引更多的人關注中國兒童。北京2008年奧運會的境內奧運火炬傳遞手共有19400名，火炬傳遞路線長達85000英里，途經五大洲，火炬傳遞將為期130天。北京奧組委稱，北京奧運會的火炬傳遞路線將成為奧運歷史上最長的火炬傳遞路線。

    除美國的博珍妮外，其他七位“老外奧運火炬手”包括，來自德國的一名工程師、來自委內瑞拉的一位美術設計師及分別來自菲律賓、哥倫比亞、印度、日本和俄羅斯的五位在華人士。

    據北京奧組委介紹，“聯想在華外國人奧運火炬手”選拔活動包括網上投票和選拔委員會評定兩個階段，其選拔標準包括“熱愛中國文化和歷史”及“為推動中外友好關系做出貢獻”等。

    每位奧運火炬傳遞手將手持圣火跑200米。