2010 Winter Olympics torch relay



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". Exact routes were later announced several weeks before the start of the torch relay.

The torches used in the Olympic relay were designed by Leo Obstbaum (1969–2009), the late director of design for the 2010 Winter Games. 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 and Stan Smyl. 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.

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.

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.

Torch
The torches used for 2010 relay and the lighting ceremonies were made by designers at Bombardier Inc.'s Aerospace division.

Route

 * 1) Before October 30: Olympia, Greece
 * 2) October 30: Victoria, British Columbia, loop
 * 3) October 31: Victoria to Nanaimo
 * 4) November 1: Nanaimo to Tofino
 * 5) November 2: Tofino to Courtenay to Campbell River
 * 6) November 3: Campbell River to Whitehorse, Yukon
 * 7) November 4: Whitehorse to Inuvik, Northwest Territories
 * 8) November 5: Inuvik to Yellowknife, briefly entering Nunavut
 * 9) November 6: Yellowknife to Cold Lake, Alberta
 * 10) November 7: Cold Lake to Churchill, Manitoba, going through Saskatchewan
 * 11) November 8: Churchill to Alert, Nunavut
 * 12) November 9: Alert to Iqaluit
 * 13) November 10: Iqaluit to Gaspé, Quebec
 * 14) November 11: Sept-Îles to Labrador City, Newfoundland and Labrador to Happy Valley-Goose Bay, Newfoundland and Labrador
 * 15) November 12: Happy Valley-Goose Bay to St. John's
 * 16) November 13: St. John's loop
 * 17) November 14: St. John's to Grand Falls-Windsor
 * 18) November 15: Grand Falls-Windsor to Channel-Port aux Basques
 * 19) November 16: Channel-Port aux Basques to Port Hawkesbury, Nova Scotia
 * 20) November 17: Port Hawkesbury to Truro
 * 21) November 18: Truro to Halifax, Nova Scotia
 * 22) November 19: Halifax loop
 * 23) November 20: Halifax to Lunenburg
 * 24) November 21: Lunenburg to Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island
 * 25) November 22: Charlottetown to Summerside
 * 26) November 23: Summerside to Moncton, New Brunswick
 * 27) November 24: Moncton to Saint John
 * 28) November 25: Saint John to Fredericton
 * 29) November 26: Not travelling, staying in Fredericton.
 * 30) November 27: Fredericton to Bathurst
 * 31) November 28: Bathurst to Edmundston
 * 32) November 29: Edmundston to Rimouski, Quebec
 * 33) November 30: Rimouski to Baie-Comeau, Quebec
 * 34) December 1: Baie-Comeau to Saguenay (Alma)
 * 35) December 2: Saguenay to Quebec City
 * 36) December 3: Quebec City to Lévis
 * 37) December 4: Lévis to Saint-Georges
 * 38) December 5: Saint-Georges to Sherbrooke
 * 39) December 6: Sherbrooke to Trois-Rivières
 * 40) December 7: Trois-Rivières to Longueuil
 * 41) December 8: Longueuil to Beaconsfield
 * 42) December 8: Beaconsfield to Kahnawake
 * 43) December 9: Kahnawake to Mont-Tremblant
 * 44) December 10: Mont-Tremblant to Montreal
 * 45) December 11: Montreal to Gatineau
 * 46) December 12: Gatineau to Ottawa, Ontario
 * 47) December 13: Ottawa loop
 * 48) December 14: Ottawa to Kingston
 * 49) December 15: Kingston to Peterborough
 * 50) December 16: Peterborough to Oshawa
 * 51) December 17: Oshawa to Toronto
 * 52) December 18: Toronto to Brampton
 * 53) December 19: Brampton to Hamilton
 * 54) December 20: Hamilton to Niagara Falls
 * 55) December 21: Niagara Falls to Brantford
 * 56) December 22: Brantford to Chatham
 * 57) December 23: Chatham to Windsor
 * 58) December 24: Windsor to London
 * 59) December 25: Not travelling, staying in London.
 * 60) December 26: Not travelling, staying in London.
 * 61) December 27: London to Kitchener
 * 62) December 28: Kitchener to Owen Sound
 * 63) December 29: Owen Sound to Barrie
 * 64) December 30: Barrie to North Bay
 * 65) December 31: North Bay to Val-d'Or, Quebec
 * 66) January 1, 2010: Val-d'Or to Timmins, Ontario
 * 67) January 2: Timmins to Sault Ste. Marie
 * 68) January 3: Sault Ste. Marie to Thunder Bay
 * 69) January 4: Thunder Bay to Kenora
 * 70) January 5: Kenora to Winnipeg, Manitoba
 * 71) January 6: Winnipeg loop
 * 72) January 7: Winnipeg to Portage la Prairie
 * 73) January 8: Portage la Prairie to Brandon
 * 74) January 9: Brandon to Regina
 * 75) January 10: Regina to Swift Current
 * 76) January 11: Swift Current to Saskatoon to Prince Albert
 * 77) January 12: Prince Albert to Lloydminster
 * 78) January 13: Lloydminster to Edmonton, Alberta
 * 79) January 14: Not travelling, staying in Edmonton.
 * 80) January 15: Edmonton to Red Deer
 * 81) January 16: Red Deer to Medicine Hat
 * 82) January 17: Medicine Hat to Lethbridge
 * 83) January 18: Lethbridge to Crossfield
 * 84) January 19: Calgary to Airdrie
 * 85) January 20: Calgary to Banff
 * 86) January 21: Banff to Golden, British Columbia
 * 87) January 22: Golden to Cranbrook
 * 88) January 23: Cranbrook to Nelson
 * 89) January 24: Nelson to Osoyoos
 * 90) January 25: Osoyoos to Kelowna
 * 91) January 26: Kelowna to Revelstoke
 * 92) January 27: Revelstoke to Kamloops
 * 93) January 28: Kamloops to Williams Lake
 * 94) January 29: Williams Lake to Prince George
 * 95) January 30: Prince George to Smithers
 * 96) January 31: Smithers to Fort St. John
 * 97) February 1: Fort St. John to Prince Rupert
 * 98) February 2: Prince Rupert to Port Hardy
 * 99) February 3: Port Hardy to Powell River
 * 100) February 4: Powell River to Squamish
 * 101) February 5: Squamish to Whistler
 * 102) February 6: Whistler to Merritt
 * 103) February 7: Merritt to Abbotsford
 * 104) February 8: Abbotsford to Surrey
 * 105) February 9: Surrey to Richmond (The torch briefly went into the United States at the Peace Arch in Surrey, British Columbia, and Blaine, Washington)
 * 106) February 10: Richmond to West Vancouver, British Columbia
 * 107) February 11: West Vancouver to Vancouver
 * 108) February 12: Within Vancouver to BC Place Stadium