2010 Olympic Torch Relay Route: 45,000-kms starting at Victoria

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2010 Vancouver Winter Olympic Torch Relay route announced

Gary Kingston, Vancouver Sun
Published: Thursday, November 20, 2008

The torch relay for the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games was always going to end in British Columbia, inside B.C. Place Stadium.

But the iconic flame's 106-day cross-country journey will also begin in the province before criss-crossing the nation on its way through every province and territory.

The 2010 Olympic organizing committee (Vanoc) announced today at a splashy ceremony in West Vancouver that the torch relay will start in Victoria on Oct. 30, 2009.

After four days on Vancouver Island, it will be taken to the Queen Charlotte Islands and Atlin in northern B.C. before heading into the Yukon and Northwest Territories. In early November, it will land in North America's easternmost tip, historic Cape Spear in St. John's, Newfoundland, before embarking on a cross-Canada journey that will put it back in B.C. on Jan. 21, 2010.

"The Olympic torch relay is a tremendous opportunity to unite the country and make the Vancouver 2010 Winter Games Canada's Games," said Gary Lunn, the federal minister of state for sport. "This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to bring together millions of Canadians, in every province and territory, as we celebrate and welcome the passing of the Olympic Flame.

"As it makes its way across Canada, it will touch the soul of this great nation and inspire the world."

The relay will spend a total of 27 days in B.C. and visit 266 communities or places of interest. The torch itself will be carried by 3,500 torchbearers.

Canadians interested in carrying the torch can apply at iCoke.ca or at three different RBC web sites, including http://www.carrythetorch.com/. Coca-Cola and RBC are the relay's presenting sponsors.

A Vanoc release said the route through B.C., which includes visits to the 1,770-metre high Kootenay Pass and the site of Canadian Pacific Railway's Last Spike at Craigellachie in 1885, will put it within a one-hour drive of 92 per cent of the province's population.

The torch will cover 9,750 kilometres by land, water and air.

Overall, the torch relay route will be the longest domestic torch relay in Olympic history, stretching 45,000 kilometres within Canada.

"When designing this route, we wanted to include as many Canadians as possible," said Vanoc chief executive officer John Furlong. "It is our hope and our dream to unite this country and bring Canadians closer together to discover the many cultures and perspectives that make up our nation.

"We will share the Olympic Flame with young and old, northern and southern, eastern and western - and everyone in between - in order to make these truly Canada's Games."