(ATR) The late chairman of Vancouver 2010 was remembered a week after his death when the Olympic flame arrived in Canada.
Jack Poole’s widow Darlene ignited a small torch and lit a cauldron on the lawn of the British Columbia Legislature on Oct. 30, the day after it was handed over in Athens.
Poole died in hospital from pancreatic cancer a week earlier, just hours after the flame was lit Oct. 22 at Ancient Olympia.
The flame, carried in a miner’s lantern by Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson, arrived more than 90 minutes late from Athens at Victoria International Airport due to headwinds. The flame was greeted by Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper and B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell.
Chiefs of the Vancouver-area Four Host First Nations -- Squamish, Musqueam, Tsleil-Waututh and Lil’wat – paddled a canoe carrying the flame across the Inner Harbour of the provincial capital. The 13.5 meter canoe was hand-carved from red cedar and emblazoned with a Salish sea wolf on its bow. The chiefs greeted counterparts from Victoria’s Songhees and Esquimalt tribes.
The first torchbearers were 2000 gold medal triathlete Simon Whitfield and two-time gold medal speedskater Catriona Le May Doan. They received the flame at 11:05 local time and carried it to the Parliament. There are 12,000 torchbearers for flame's 45,000 km tour around Canada.
“We are embarking on an odyssey that we hope will shine a bright light on the people and places of Canada, starting right here in Victoria,” said VANOC CEO John Furlong. “For 106 days we will have the time of our lives finishing back here in British Columbia for an Olympic Winter Games we hope will be marked in history as among the best.”
Said Harper: “The flame embodies the Olympic ideals of excellence, friendship and respect. These values resonate deeply with all Canadians.”
On its first day, the flame was scheduled to travel 90 km through 11 communities by 147 torchbearers. Highlights include Mile 0 of the Trans-Canada Highway and Elk Lake where members of the Beijing 2008 gold medal men’s eights rowing team were to carry a torch across the water.
The day’s last torchbearer is local 15-year-old Jeneece Edroff, who raised $1 million for Variety the Children’s Charity after overcoming a rare spinal cord ailment.
With reporting from Bob Mackin.
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