A CHORLEY man has been granted his fifteen minutes of fame as the Millennium Olympic Games gets well and truly under way.

For Simon Toulson, 29, an ex-pupil of Parklands High School, Chorley, was handed the coveted prize of carrying the official Olympic flame on to the packed streets of Sydney last week as part of the city's glittering opening ceremony.

Simon, who has worked for the International Olympic Committee based in Lausanne, Switzerland, for the last two years, e-mailed his parents Mary and Alan in Euxton with the terrific news -- and it came as a big surprise!

Mary, who lives at Park Avenue, had no idea her son had been chosen to carry the historic torch from Concorde in to the city. She told the Citizen: "We had absolutely no idea that Simon would be roped in to doing this.

"It's so exciting for him, and for us as well.

"When he e-mailed us from his hotel room in Australia to tell us, I was completely shocked and, of course, absolutely over the moon.

"It's normally athletes who get the opportunity to carry the Olympic torch."

Speaking after the event, Simon told his parents: "I was really, really nervous beforehand.

"I didn't really know what to expect, but everyone just wanted to talk to me.

"It was absolutely amazing to be able to do something like that."

Simon, who graduated with a sports studies degree from Northumbria University, works for the Olympic Committee as a technical officer -- gathering information and making sure stadiums and athletes' accommodation are up to scratch.

Simon's last visit to Chorley was earlier in the year when he was invited back to Parklands High School to talk to pupils about the Olympic Games.