April 9 (Bloomberg) -- Throngs of thousands who waited in San Francisco streets for hours to protest and cheer the Olympic torch were stymied by last-minute changes that steered the procession miles away from its designated route.

Crowds began gathering early this morning, lining the city's Embarcadero Street, where the torch was supposed to pass starting at 1 p.m. After it was lit during an opening ceremony, the torch disappeared into a warehouse for half an hour before a convoy of police vans transported it more than 2 miles (3.2 kilometers) away.

When the run did start, the torch was protected by a group of security officers, surrounded by heavily armed police officers on foot and on motorcycles as it wound its way toward the Golden Gate Bridge.

About a dozen protesters lay down in front of the vehicle carrying the torchbearers in an attempt to prevent it from making its way to the Golden Gate Bridge before police cleared the road.

A closing ceremony near the waterfront was canceled and the torch was instead brought back to San Francisco International Airport for its flight to Buenos Aires, said California Highway Patrol Officer Shawn Chase.

``This is the biggest event for China,'' said Jean Chen, 40, from the northern California city of Fremont, as she clutched small Chinese and American flags, ready to cheer on the torch this morning. ``We want to show our support for the Olympics.''

Earlier, a troop of protesters wielding Tibetan flags crossed the main published route and briefly confronted a group waving large Chinese flags. ``You are decades behind civil rights!'' one protester shouted at a supporter in the crowd.

Magnet for Protests

The Olympic torch has become a focal point for worldwide demonstrations against China. Activists demanding independence for Tibet plunged the relays in Paris and London into disarray.

In Beijing, Tibet's government chairman, Qiangba Puncog, said today that authorities will deal ``severely'' with protesters when the torch reaches the Tibetan lap. A Hong Kong pro-democracy group plans to use the torch's visit there next month to demand greater human rights in China.

``In a way, we may be a victim of our own success in the sense that all the attention is now on the Olympics,'' Timothy Fok, president of the Hong Kong Olympic Committee, told reporters today in Beijing. ``A lot of people are using this as a stage for promoting their issues.''

The upheaval has prompted sponsors for the Olympic relay -- including Coca-Cola Co., Samsung Corp. and Lenovo Group Ltd. -- to keep a low profile, said Gerhard Heiberg, chairman of the International Olympic Committee's marketing commission.

``They are scaling down now in San Francisco, and we'll see how we'll tackle the rest of the torch relay,'' Heiberg said. ``The main part for the sponsors is the torch relay in China itself,'' where the torch will arrive May 4.

A Beautiful Day

In San Francisco, about 80 people signed up to run the torch in relays in what had been planned as a 6-mile route, which didn't include Chinatown. Twenty percent of San Francisco's 744,000 people are of Chinese ethnicity.

Flags and banners representing China, Tibet and the Olympics billowed in a strong breeze, underneath a mostly cloudless sky. Helicopters hovered above the thousands of people amassed near the torch's published final destination, Justin Herman Plaza, which was later canceled.

On April 7, three demonstrators scaled the city's Golden Gate Bridge and unfurled ``Free Tibet'' banners. Late yesterday, actor Richard Gere, a follower of the Dalai Lama, and Archbishop Desmond Tutu were the headliners for a rally and candlelight vigil at San Francisco's United Nations Plaza.

The French Lesson

``My entire focus is on making this a success here,'' Mayor Gavin Newsom said at a press conference. ``Of course, the mayor of Paris, I'm sure, said the same thing after he learned from the challenges in London.''

London police arrested 37 people during the torch procession there April 6. The next day in Paris, the torch was extinguished and relit at least once, and bused across most of the route because demonstrators blocked the runners.

China blames the Dalai Lama for instigating last month's protests in and around Tibet, the biggest in almost 20 years. The government accused his supporters are trying to sabotage the Beijing Games.

The unrest in Tibet began March 10, when hundreds of monks marched in the capital, Lhasa, calling for an end to religious restrictions and the release of imprisoned colleagues. The date marked the anniversary of a failed Tibetan uprising against Chinese rule in 1959, after which the Dalai Lama fled to India.

Riots broke out in Lhasa on March 14 and spread to Tibetan- inhabited provinces of western China, including Gansu and Sichuan.

`Ample Measures'

``We are taking ample measures and we will deal with troublemakers severely according to the law,'' Chairman Qiangba said today, adding that curfews and school closings weren't foreseen. ``I am sure the Dalai clique will plan something to try to disrupt the torch relay in Lhasa.''

Western nations including the U.S. and Germany are calling on Chinese authorities to open talks with the Dalai Lama, who is Tibet's spiritual leader.

``If they ever were to reach out to the Dalai Lama, they'd find him to be a peaceful man, a man of anti-violence,'' President George W. Bush said today.

The U.S. House of Representatives passed a resolution today sponsored by Speaker Nancy Pelosi calling for China to ``end its crackdown in Tibet and enter into a substantive dialogue with His Holiness the Dalai Lama.''

To contact the reporter on this story: Ryan Flinn in San Francisco at rflinn@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: April 9, 2008 20:46 EDT