Where to Ski And Snowboard - Olympic flame in final relay

Olympic flame in final relay

12th February 2010, by Chris Gill

Whistler-Blackcomb [(c) Vancouver2010.com]

It wouldn’t be the Olympics without the famous Torch, which has travelled more than 26,000 miles in its worldwide journey to mark the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games in Vancouver, Canada.

The Olympic Torch made its final leg into Whistler on Friday 5 February, arriving to a huge welcome in the resort. Since then it has travelled around the various venues in a relay that also took it up Whistler Mountain by snowmobile – site for the Alpine skiing events. Torchbearers have included Arnold Schwarzenegger and our own Lord Sebastian Coe – Schwarzenegger hands over the Torch to Coe on Friday’s opening day relay.

After making its way through downtown Vancouver, the Torch will light the mighty cauldron at the opening ceremony in Vancouver’s 55,000-capacity stadium (BC Place) tonight – Friday 12 February, and will remain alight for the duration of the Games.

Steeped in history, the Torch represents not only the Games but also the uniting of different nations even where conflicts divide. The 2010 flame was lit in its homeland Greece on 22 October 2009 from where it made its way to Canadian shores a week later. Since then, leading personalities from the world of sport, television and government have carried the flame across to every corner of the country.

Question is: which Canadian will receive the extra special honour of lighting the cauldron?