She is just another 16-year-old school girl, but her flare for sports has elevated her to becoming the only torchbearer to represent Pakistan in the London Olympics 2012.

“I want the world to know that my country is no less than others. Its young leaders will lead it,” says an excited Zainab Imran over the phone.The Olympic Torch Relay will light the whole of the United Kingdom (UK) by passing through more than 1,000 communities, and each torchbearer will share his or her story of inspiration to millions of viewers.

A student of the Nasra Education Trust, Zainab is part of the International Inspiration – a programme by the British Council to enrich the lives of schoolchildren in developing countries through the power of sport. The programme currently links 40 schools in Pakistan to 18 schools in the UK.

Zainab is a foortball player. Through her school and the Council, she is selected as one of the 8,000 torchbearers around the world to gather at a rally in Nottingham on June 28.From the 20 countries that are part of the programme, one representative from each country becomes a torchbearer this Olympics. The selection is made on the basis of each representative’s commitment to enrich lives through sport.

The torchbearer’s mother, on the other hand, has no idea that her daughter is becoming famous. “Of course, I am happy that she is going to the Olympics. But I had no idea the opportunity was this big,” she says. In 2008, Shahzad Roy was selected as a torchbearer from Pakistan for being a social entrepreneur and educating poor children in the country.

Courtesy / Source: http://www.thenews.com.pk/Todays-News-4-103927-The-only-Olympics-torchbearer-from-Pakistan