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VANOC’s well-kept secret that surprised no one in Sea to Sky country is now official. After a loop through the Sunshine Coast, the Olympic torch relay will start its trek up the Sea to Sky corridor on Feb. 4, 2010, visiting Lions Bay, Furry Creek and Britannia Beach before arriving in Squamish. The next day the torch travels to Brackendale and then up the highway to Brandywine Provincial Park, Whistler Olympic Park and the procession arrives in Whistler on the 99th day of the cross-Canada odyssey.
Departing from Whistler on Feb. 6, the torch run continues north to Pemberton and Mount Currie with some side trips to First Nations communities before heading to Lillooet and B.C.’s interior. The route then proceeds south with overnights at Merritt, Abbotsford, Surrey, Richmond, West Vancouver and Vancouver before the magic moment when, 106 days after the torch run started, it arrives at the opening ceremonies at B.C. Place Stadium on Feb. 12.
The torch run route was unveiled with great fanfare Friday (Nov. 21), including the Four Host First Nations marking the occasion with a traditional witnessing ceremony, Canadian Olympic hero speedskater Catrina LeMay-Doan as master of ceremonies and video of unforgettable Olympic torch run moments from Games of the past.
From scuba-geared underwater torchbearers to a flaming arrow used to ignite the Olympic cauldron, the video captured the creativity of past torch runs. The iconic image of the torch being held by 1960 boxing gold medalist Muhammad Ali as he, shaking from Parkinson’s disease, lit the 1996 Olympic flame at the Atlanta Summer Games captured the Olympic ideal of perseverance and underlined how the torch run can inspire generations.
Now it’s our, or I should say, your turn.
The two torch run sponsors RBC (Royal Bank) and Coca-Cola, are leading the charge to find Canada’s torchbearers with on-line programs aimed at encouraging social, environmental and personal fitness commitments from Canadians who would like to carry the torch in 2010. On their websites — rbc.com/carrythetorch and icoke.ca — Canadians can apply for the honour of being a torchbearer. A special program for youth has been set up by Coke to select teenage torchbearers who are committed to adopting an active lifestyle (website sogoactive.ca).
After the Olympic flame is lit in Greece, it’ll arrive in Victoria to start its voyage by heading north to the Yukon. The 2010 torch run will travel though small villages and big cities from the northern tip of Nunavut to St. John’s, Nfld., before winding its way back to B.C.
As the torch makes its 106-day journey and the excitement builds with of millions of Canadians lining the route, Maureen Douglas, VANOC’s director of operations and community relations for the Sea to Sky corridor, expects we’ll have a unique emotional connection to the torch run. Douglas says as hosts of the Games, it’s like organizing a party during which, every night leading up to the event, we will see on the nightly news how much this means to Canadians and how they are counting on us to put on a great Games.
