Olympic Torch: Observing a once in a lifetime activity twice

Local Content - Sports Blogs

Written by production

Wednesday, 20 January 2010 16:58

Over the last week the Olympic Torch ran its way into Alberta.  Since the torch arrived in Vancouver on October 30, the media has kept us up to date where the torch was as it crossed Canada.  Famous people such as Gordie Howe and Sidney Crosby have carried the torch.  Countless everyday people have had their chance to run as well. At the Oilers game two members of the Edmonton Mercuries 1952 Men’s Gold Medal Hockey team carried the torch to center ice. Team captain Bill Dawe said that the 1952 Olympic medal means more to him as time goes on. Wikkipedia provided many interesting stories about the history of the modern Olympic Torch: 1928:  The Olympic Torch from the ancient games was reintroduced during the 1928 Games. An employee of the Electric Utility of Amsterdam, lit the first Olympic torch in the Marathon Tower of the Olympic Stadium in Amsterdam. 1936:  Berlin.  Adolph Hitler, three years away from starting World War 2, saw a link between the power of the Ancient Greek Olympics (and the torch) to the perfect Reich he was trying to establish in Germany. 1976:  Over the years the torch has been transported by runners, on boats and plane.  For the 1976 Montreal Olympics the transportation of the torch took a new twist.  The flame was transformed to a radio signal. From Athens, this signal was transmitted by satellite to Canada[5], where it was received and used to trigger a laser beam to re-light the flame. 2008 – As the Torch made its way around Asia preparing for the Beijing games, a special torch was made and taken to the top of Mt. Everest.  This particular torch had to be specially designed to keep burning in an area with very low oxegyn level. 2010 -Three days after the Olympic Torch is extinguished, the Paralympic Torch will be lit in Ottawa signaling the start of the 2010 Paralympic Torch Relay on March 3, 2010.  The Paralympic games will start 10 days later. In 1988 many of us were able to see the Olympic Torch as it wound its way to the Calgary games.  At that time we lived in Lethbridge.  My wife went with our 11 year old daughter and other parents and students from her school to view the events down town.  We had two little ones who were too young to understand what the Olympics were, so I stayed home.  When my wife returned that night she said it was a great experience to be there with the torch, but the  crowd made it hard to actually see the item they all came to see. The next day was a Saturday, so we got in our car and drove east on Highway 3 until we came upon the torch runners near the gas station in Cranford.  At that point we pulled our car off the side of the road and tried to get some pictures as the torch went by.  The runner who had the torch let my daughter touch the torch as he ran past her.  My daughter still remembers the flame almost catching her hair on fire.  It probably wasn’t that close. A couple of years ago I was driving through the big city of Cranford with my two youngest sons.  I said “This is Cranford.  Back in 1988, this is where we stopped and got some pictures with the Olympic Torch.”  They were not in awe of my story from the ‘old days.’  First of all the 1988 Olympic happened before they were born.  Second of all, Cranford no longer has a gas station and to my children it didn’t look like any big piece of world history. In 2010 security precautions will be different than in 1988 – but many of us have the second chance to participate in a once in a life time event – observe the Olympic torch.  Where ever you take part in the event, the memory will last a life time.