Valor in a wheelchair

The Olympic torch has been carried by top leaders, celebrities and former Games greats on the six international legs of its global odyssey so far - but none has made as big a splash as a Chinese woman dubbed "smiling angel in a wheelchair".

Her incredible courage in protecting the Olympic torch from repeated assaults by Tibetan separatists in Paris has made her the stuff of legend - and an Internet phenomenon.

Jin Jing, 27, a Paralympic fencer, returned home on Wednesday to a heroine's welcome and was mobbed at Beijing's Capital International Airport.