At 5 p.m. on Wednesday, Banff’s main street was as close to a ghost town as an international destination can get, the wide sidewalks empty but for the odd ski-pole-wielding tourist.
By 6 p.m., Banff Avenue was lined with thousands of people — seniors waving Canadian flags, babies with maple leafs painted on their chubby cheeks. Stores were suddenly shuttered, their window signs reading, “Sorry, We’re Watching the Torch.” Within seconds of appearing on the street, the torchbearers once again played pied piper to throngs of excited, camera-wielding spectators.
It’s the Olympic torch miracle, a scene that’s been played out in stops big and small since the run began in October.
As it makes its way to its final destination of Vancouver on Feb. 12, the torch and its runners have drawn instant crowds everywhere they go.
Early Wednesday, it says goodbye to Calgary with a party worthy of such a VIP guest. At Canada Olympic Park, Calgary snowboarder Tyler MacRae even manages to put smiles on the usually poker-faced security detail that follows the torchbearers on their journey. On the eve of his 17th birthday, the Sochi (Russia) 2014 Winter Olympics hopeful criss-crosses down the half-pipe with the lit torch in his right hand.
“I was a bit nervous at first, I’ve never done it with something in my hand, let alone something on fire,” says MacRae as he arrives at the hill’s bottom, just before his mom Geri runs up and hugs him. “But it was pretty cool.”
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The more than 6,000 spectators on hand echo MacRae’s sentiments over this Calgary-style show of sporting bravado. Indeed, much of the torch’s visit to COP is designed to show off Calgary’s lasting Olympic gems, something people like torchbearer Bill France are unabashed about.
“We left a tremendous legacy here,” says France, vice-president of sport for the 1988 organizing committee and the current vice-president of sport for WinSport (formerly Calgary Olympic Development Association) — who lights the cauldron at COP to the predictable cacophony of what we call in these parts “hootin’ and hollerin’.”
MacRae also shows his Calgarian stripes when he admits to bursting with pride at representing the snowboarding world — a sport which only a few years ago was fighting for respect and recognition — on this day.
“People have gone from thinking we’re just a bunch of bums,” he says, “to Olympic athletes.”
Yes, just as you would expect, Calgary says, “See Ya Later” to the Olympic torch in true brash, western hospitality style. Thousands line up for a free pancake breakfast while a live band gets everyone whipped into a tide of enthusiasm and excitement.
Not everyone, though, needs encouragement.
Retired school teachers Nancy Fehr and Ann Drabble dance in front of the TV cameras in their ’88 volunteer outfits. Just in case you don’t realize they’re Olympic diehards, the stuffed Hidy and Howdy dolls around their waists should do the trick.
“This is bringing back all the great memories of 1988,” says Fehr. “Now it’s being experienced by a whole new generation of Calgarians, and they’ll catch Olympic fever, too.”
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