It stands three feet high, is white with silver trim and emblazoned with the Ilanaaq the Inukshuk logo and red maple leaf. The Vancouver 2010 slogan, "With Glowing Hearts/Des Plus Brillants Exploits" is engraved on silver trim.
The Olympic torch for the next Winter Games was unveiled in Whistler, B.C. today during celebrations marking the one-year countdown to Vancouver 2010.
"Sometime in October we will go over to Greece and this torch will be ignited," VANOC CEO John Furlong said before an estimated 1,500 people. "From the back of this torch will come a huge, flowing yellow flame matching the spirit we believe that exists in our country."
Designed and developed by Canadian aerospace and rail giant Bombardier, it represents coastal mountain slopes and appears like an icicle. It was inspired by “lines carved into the snow by skiers schussing down mountains and the undulating beauty of the snowy Canadian landscape.”
Some 12,000 stainless steel, aluminum and sheet-molding compound units will be produced for torchbearers on the 106-day, nearly 28,000 mile journey. It will end at the Feb. 12, 2010 opening ceremony in B.C. Place Stadium.
When filled with a mix of propane, isobutane and hydrocarbons, each torch will weigh 3.5 pounds and will function at temperatures ranging from -58 to 104 degrees Fahrenheit. Being Canada, it is more likely to encounter the former than the latter. The flame will burn in each torch for at least 12 minutes, which should be enough for each bearer to cover their 984 foot quota.
Also unveiled Thursday were the Hudson's Bay Company-designed track suits to be worn by the torchbearers. The predominantly white uniforms have a green and blue left sleeve and the Olympic torch relay logo on the chest and pants pocket. Torchbearers will also wear red mittens, a "nod to classic Canadiana," according to the news release.
Vancouver student Patricia Moreno, 18, and Regina, Saskatchewan hockey coach Caleb Taylor, 35, modeled the uniforms at the Whistler Village ceremony. Moreno and Taylor were the first torchbearers selected in online contests by sponsors Coca-Cola and Royal Bank, respectively.
With reporting from Bob Mackin in Vancouver.
For general comments or questions, click here
Últimas Noticias
Sinner-Alcaraz, the duel that came to succeed the three phenomenons
Table tennis: Brazil’s Bruna Costa Alexandre will be Olympic and Paralympic in Paris 2024
Rugby 7s: the best player of 2023 would only play the medal match in Paris
Rhonex Kipruto, owner of the world record for the 10000 meters on the road, was suspended for six years
Katie Ledecky spoke about doping Chinese swimmers: “It’s difficult to go to Paris knowing that we’re going to compete with some of these athletes”
