An agency sports reporter will have the honour of carrying the Olympic Torch next week.

Martyn Ziegler, chief reporter with Press Association Sport, is the only member of the British media to be invited to carry the torch for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.

The International Olympic Committee wanted to involve a member of the British media in the torch relay as London 2012 will be the next Games after Vancouver.

Martyn was chosen in recognition of his long experience reporting on the Olympic movement.

He will carry the flame a full 500 metres between the suburbs of Surrey and Richmond in the Canadian city next Tuesday, three days before the opening ceremony.

Martyn said: “This is a fantastic opportunity and I am really looking forward to it.

“How many people can say they have carried the Olympic torch?”

After being lit in Athens last October, the Vancouver 2010 torch relay then moved to Victoria, British Columbia, and will have covered 28,000 miles over 106 days by the time it reaches it destination.