Host city
Vancouver , Canada Countries visited Greece, Canada, United StatesSee
full route Torch bearers 12,000 approx. Start date October 30, 2009 End date February 12, 2010 Torch designer
Leo Obstbaum
The torch passing by
Memorial University of Newfoundland in
St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador on November 13th, 2009.
The flame is passed in
Moncton ,
New Brunswick , on November 23, 2009.
A closeup of the 2010 Olympic Torch.
Photo of one of the miniature displays used to show the flame during the community celebrations.
The 2010 Winter Olympics Torch Relay was a 106-day run, from October 30, 2009, until February 12, 2010, prior to the
2010 Winter Olympics . Plans for the relay were originally announced November 21, 2008, by the
Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (VANOC). Communities were initially informed in June 2008, but the locations were not announced for "security reasons".
[1] Exact routes were later announced several weeks before the start of the torch relay.
[1]
The torches used in the Olympic relay were designed by
Leo Obstbaum (1969–2009), the late director of design for the 2010 Winter Games.
[2]
There were an estimated 12,000 torchbearers, including notable Canadian celebrities such as
Shania Twain ,
Simon Whitfield ,
Silken Lauman ,
Alexandre Despatie ,
Catriona Le May Doan and
John Hayman and past and present
NHL hockey stars including
Sidney Crosby ,
Wayne Gretzky , and the captains of the
Vancouver Canucks teams that went to the
Stanley Cup Finals ,
Trevor Linden (
1994 ) and
Stan Smyl (
1982 ). In fact, many television personalities were selected as torchbearers for the relay, mainly from
CTV 's parent company,
CTVglobemedia .
Matt Lauer and American
actor ,
bodybuilder , and former
California Governor
Arnold Schwarzenegger were also torch bearers.
[3]
On 22 October 2009 the Olympic Torch was lit during a ceremony held at the
Ancient Olympia in
Greece .
Actress
Maria Nafpliotou played the role of the
High Priestess and ignited the flame using a
parabolic mirror and the sun's ray. The first torch was carried by Olympic
skier
Vassilis Dimitriadis .
[4]
Kept under close secrecy, the final Olympic Torchbearer turned out to be not one, but five final torchbearers.
Rick Hansen brought it into
BC Place Stadium , in turn lighting
Catriona Le May Doan 's torch, who lit
Steve Nash 's torch, and the flame continued to
Nancy Greene and
Wayne Gretzky . Three of the four torchbearers lit the indoor Olympic Cauldron; Le May Doan remained with her torch due to a malfunction causing only three of the four arms to be raised. Gretzky exited BC Place, with his torch still lit, and caught a ride on the back of a VANOC vehicle, to
Coal Harbour , where he lit the outdoor Cauldron. This makes Gretzky the first person to light two official cauldrons in the same Olympics.
At the start of the
closing ceremony , Le May Doan re-lit the indoor Cauldron after clown and mime Yves Dagenais "fixed" and "raised" the arm that malfunctioned in the opening ceremony.
Relay elements
Torch
The torches used for 2010 relay and the lighting ceremonies were made by designers at
Bombardier Inc. 's Aerospace division.
[5]
Route
Before October 30:
Olympia, Greece
October 30:
Victoria ,
British Columbia , loop
October 31: Victoria to
Nanaimo
November 1: Nanaimo to
Tofino
November 2: Tofino to
Courtenay to
Campbell River
November 3: Campbell River to
Whitehorse ,
Yukon
November 4: Whitehorse to
Inuvik ,
Northwest Territories
November 5: Inuvik to
Yellowknife , briefly entering
Nunavut
November 6: Yellowknife to
Cold Lake ,
Alberta
November 7: Cold Lake to
Churchill ,
Manitoba , going through
Saskatchewan
November 8: Churchill to
Alert ,
Nunavut
November 9: Alert to
Iqaluit
November 10: Iqaluit to
Gaspé ,
Quebec
November 11:
Sept-Îles to
Labrador City ,
Newfoundland and Labrador to
Happy Valley-Goose Bay ,
Newfoundland and Labrador
November 12: Happy Valley-Goose Bay to
St. John's
November 13: St. John's loop
November 14: St. John's to
Grand Falls-Windsor
November 15: Grand Falls-Windsor to
Channel-Port aux Basques
November 16: Channel-Port aux Basques to
Port Hawkesbury ,
Nova Scotia
November 17: Port Hawkesbury to
Truro
November 18: Truro to
Halifax ,
Nova Scotia
November 19: Halifax loop
November 20: Halifax to
Lunenburg
November 21: Lunenburg to
Charlottetown ,
Prince Edward Island
November 22: Charlottetown to
Summerside
November 23: Summerside to
Moncton ,
New Brunswick
November 24: Moncton to
Saint John
November 25: Saint John to
Fredericton
November 26: Not travelling, staying in Fredericton.
November 27: Fredericton to
Bathurst
November 28: Bathurst to
Edmundston
November 29: Edmundston to
Rimouski ,
Quebec
November 30: Rimouski to
Baie-Comeau ,
Quebec
December 1: Baie-Comeau to
Saguenay (Alma)
December 2: Saguenay to
Quebec City
December 3: Quebec City to
Lévis
December 4: Lévis to
Saint-Georges
December 5: Saint-Georges to
Sherbrooke
December 6: Sherbrooke to
Trois-Rivières
December 7: Trois-Rivières to
Longueuil
December 8: Longueuil to
Beaconsfield
December 8: Beaconsfield to
Kahnawake
December 9: Kahnawake to
Mont-Tremblant
December 10: Mont-Tremblant to
Montreal
December 11: Montreal to
Gatineau
December 12: Gatineau to
Ottawa ,
Ontario
December 13: Ottawa loop
December 14: Ottawa to
Kingston
December 15: Kingston to
Peterborough
December 16: Peterborough to
Oshawa
December 17: Oshawa to
Toronto
December 18: Toronto to
Brampton
December 19: Brampton to
Hamilton
December 20: Hamilton to
Niagara Falls
December 21: Niagara Falls to
Brantford
December 22: Brantford to
Chatham
December 23: Chatham to
Windsor
December 24: Windsor to
London
December 25: Not travelling, staying in London.
December 26: Not travelling, staying in London.
December 27: London to
Kitchener
December 28: Kitchener to
Owen Sound
December 29: Owen Sound to
Barrie
December 30: Barrie to
North Bay
December 31: North Bay to
Val-d'Or ,
Quebec
January 1, 2010: Val-d'Or to
Timmins ,
Ontario
January 2: Timmins to
Sault Ste. Marie
January 3: Sault Ste. Marie to
Thunder Bay
January 4: Thunder Bay to
Kenora
January 5: Kenora to
Winnipeg ,
Manitoba
January 6: Winnipeg loop
January 7: Winnipeg to
Portage la Prairie
January 8: Portage la Prairie to
Brandon
January 9: Brandon to
Regina
January 10: Regina to
Swift Current
January 11: Swift Current to
Saskatoon to
Prince Albert
January 12: Prince Albert to
Lloydminster
January 13: Lloydminster to
Edmonton ,
Alberta
January 14: Not travelling, staying in Edmonton.
January 15: Edmonton to
Red Deer
January 16: Red Deer to
Medicine Hat
January 17: Medicine Hat to
Lethbridge
January 18: Lethbridge to
Crossfield
January 19: Calgary to
Airdrie
January 20: Calgary to
Banff
January 21: Banff to
Golden ,
British Columbia
January 22: Golden to
Cranbrook
January 23: Cranbrook to
Nelson
January 24: Nelson to
Osoyoos
January 25:
Osoyoos to
Kelowna
January 26: Kelowna to
Revelstoke
January 27: Revelstoke to
Kamloops
January 28: Kamloops to
Williams Lake
January 29: Williams Lake to
Prince George
January 30: Prince George to
Smithers
January 31: Smithers to
Fort St. John
February 1: Fort St. John to
Prince Rupert
February 2: Prince Rupert to
Port Hardy
February 3: Port Hardy to
Powell River
February 4: Powell River to
Squamish
February 5: Squamish to
Whistler
February 6: Whistler to
Merritt
February 7: Merritt to
Abbotsford
February 8: Abbotsford to
Surrey
February 9: Surrey to
Richmond (The torch briefly went into the
United States at the
Peace Arch in
Surrey, British Columbia , and
Blaine, Washington )
February 10: Richmond to
West Vancouver ,
British Columbia
February 11: West Vancouver to
Vancouver
February 12: Within Vancouver to
BC Place Stadium
See also
References
External links
Olympic and Paralympic torch relays
Olympic
Paralympic