VANCOUVER – It has travelled 45,000 kilometres. It has been carried by about 12,000 different people across 10 provinces and three territories.
And, on Thursday, the Olympic flame was returning to Vancouver to spark an evening of celebrations before officially lighting the kickoff of the Winter Games on Friday.
Hundreds of people lined the highway on a soggy day in Coquitlam, B.C., early Thursday morning to watch the Olympic torch pass, as spectators have done all along the trek that has taken the Olympic torch from one coast of this sprawling nation to the other and back again.
"The rain’s here all the time. We’re used to it," said Coquitlam resident Margaret Allan with a laugh. "This is a great celebration of our country and the excitement that’s coming."
Allan arrived around 7 a.m. with her two sons, Keith, 13, and Craig, 18, all clad in Olympic gear.
"This is a once-in-a-lifetime chance," said Keith. "It could be a really long time before we get something like this again."
The torch was to arrive in Vancouver proper later Thursday, to be carried by a list of celebrities that includes Canadian singers Michael Buble and Jann Arden, according to reports.
Meanwhile, Wayne Gretzky’s appearance in Vancouver this week was fuelling speculation he will be the final Olympic torchbearer Friday.
The NHL’s all-time leading scorer is a favourite among speculators to be the final torchbearer, lighting the Olympic cauldron on Friday night.
His father, Walter, will run his own leg of the relay on Friday morning near English Bay in the final day of the flame’s trip to the 2010 Games.
On Thursday, it was former Olympic snowboarder Derek Heidt carrying the torch in nearby Anmore, B.C.
"It was awesome," said Heidt, who competed in the Olympics’ first snowboard event in Nagano, Japan. "It was crazy to see how many people were up at 6 a.m. to see this."
Later in the day, NBC star broadcaster Matt Lauer got a welcome worthy of a Canadian hero while running a leg of the relay in the Vancouver suburb of Burnaby.
Lauer will be NBC’s key anchor for the Games, broadcasting daily from the top of Grouse Mountain.
"I feel great about (running the torch) in Canada," he said. "For the next hour I’m pure Canadian."
When he was finished his 300-metre run, he was again mobbed by fans who posed for pictures with him and the torch.
"I was surprised how many people came out – it was really gratifying," Lauer said. "I wanted to shout back, ’Go Canada, Go Canada.’"
Group-home resident Ryan Gray had a broad grin on his face as he waved a Canadian flag.
"This is huge for the clients," group-home leader Sarah Janzen said. "Ryan is a huge curling fan and he has tickets, so he’s super-pumped."
Janzen and co-worker Lyn King joked about the star American anchor Lauer running the Olympic torch in Canada.
"It’s a little strange that an American is running, but we’ll support the Canadian-American love," Janzen said.
"He’s pretty cute," King added.
Vancouver Sun
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