Thousands on Facebook want Betty Fox to light the 2010 Olympic flame

[Distill3d]

^i was thinking Greg Moore's dad could do it if Betty Fox was busy that night.

[mr.x]

I nearly puked when I read this:

In my dreams....

U2 would play "Streets Have no Name" running up to the lighting of the torch, which would be done Terry Fox's mom with a big "Marathon of Hope" shirt on, and an image of him would burst in the middle of BC place.....

In my dreams

[Canadian Mind]

eww.

Even worse mental picture, Nickleback doing a cover fo that song. I liek the band, but I can't picture them doing a cover very well.

[furbe]

I used to be a regular poster on these boards a long time ago, but these days I am mostly just a visitor. I don't have the time I once had to engage in online debate and discussions, but this is one thread that upset me so much I felt compelled to post.

To be honest, I hadn't even considered the idea of Betty Fox lighting the flame until I came across this thread, but I have since gotten behind the idea and joined the group to show my support. The ignorance and disrespect displayed in this thread is one of the reasons why I think it is the right choice.

This post in particular has got to be one of the most ignorant statement I've ever come across:

I am completely against the idea.

Non-Canadian: "Who's the old lady lighting the flame?"

"Oh she's the mom of a guy who got cancer and had his leg amputated and tried to run across Canada 30 years ago but died about a third of the way through."

Non-Canadian:

What Fox did was admirable but is his mom really the best we can do? It seems so typically mediocre Canadian.

Terry Fox is not just another guy who got cancer. In fact, I find your post incredibly insulting and disrespectful to someone who many people regard as one of the greatest athletes and Canadians this Country has ever produced.

Terry Fox was just 18 years old when he was diagnosed with cancer and had his leg amputated. He started the Marathon of Hope at 21, with the goal of running across Canada with only one leg. He ran the equivalent of a marathon a day, or about 38 KM every single day. He did that for 143 days, and covered over 5,373 KM before he succumb to cancer and died as a 22 year old.

Has anybody on this board ever ran even a single marathon? How about doing it consecutively for a week? How about after your feet are all bloodied and blistered, the stump that was once your leg in excruciating pain? How about fighting through cramps, sore muscles, tired lungs? Do you think you could have continued? I'm sorry, but it makes skiing down a mountain or skating around an ice rink look like nothing.

There isn't another athlete on the planet who better embodies the Olympic spirit or ideals as Terry Fox. He fought when it would have been easy to quit; he had the drive and character to fight through the pain and accomplish more than anyone would have thought possible. He never gave up and fought like a champion right until the very end.

Selecting Betty Fox to light the torch would be the ultimate tribute to Terry Fox. It would further spread his message, his story, and celebrate the greatest Canadian athlete in a way that he rightly deserves. It is a message of triumph, of courage, of character, and human decency that every athlete should aspire to.

The mere suggestion that this would be "so typically mediocre Canadian" couldn't be further from the truth. Having Trevor Linden light the torch might be confused as such, but not Betty Fox on behalf of Terry Fox. Let the story of Terry Fox once again be told via the Olympics to the billions of people that will be watching about the greatest British Columbian athlete and a truly remarkable person who accomplished so much in his tragically short life.

Let us tell the story that deserves to be told: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xjgTlCTluPA

[Metro-One]

Excellent post. i do feel that we are forgetting to soon Terry's story. On the bright side a Chinese friend of mine who only moved here 3 years ago organized an entire Terry Fox run/event last year. It is wonderful to see people from around the world still becoming passionate about this story and continuing his spirit. Maybe those of us who have heard of his story since we were little have forgotten how triumphant, tragic and amazing it is.

[touraccuracy]

have you ever won an olympic gold medal?

so what if nobody here has ran a marathon consecutively for a week, we can still share out opinions as to who should be chosen to light the torch. it should be an olympic athlete, since these are the olympics. not a summer olympic athlete, not a paralympic athlete, not a runner, not a a friend of a winter olympic athlete, or a brother or sister of an olympic athlete, not the parents of an olympic athlete, and certainly not the mother of a non-olympic athlete that died decades ago.

[salvius]

Indeed, bravo. Terry Fox was one of the first Canadian icons I learned about when I came here and still the one I respect the most. In fact, his is one of the rare stories which can bring me to tears. I have driven most of the Ontario route he took with a car, and I would be impressed by a person in normal health doing that run, let alone someone with a compromised immune system and an amputated leg.

[Canadian Mind]

I could see it during the summer olympics, should we ever get that again in Canada.

[Pinion]

Originally Posted by furbe

I used to be a regular poster on these boards a long time ago, but these days I am mostly just a visitor. I don't have the time I once had to engage in online debate and discussions, but this is one thread that upset me so much I felt compelled to post.

To be honest, I hadn't even considered the idea of Betty Fox lighting the flame until I came across this thread, but I have since gotten behind the idea and joined the group to show my support. The ignorance and disrespect displayed in this thread is one of the reasons why I think it is the right choice.

This post in particular has got to be one of the most ignorant statement I've ever come across:



Terry Fox is not just another guy who got cancer. In fact, I find your post incredibly insulting and disrespectful to someone who many people regard as one of the greatest athletes and Canadians this Country has ever produced.

Terry Fox was just 18 years old when he was diagnosed with cancer and had his leg amputated. He started the Marathon of Hope at 21, with the goal of running across Canada with only one leg. He ran the equivalent of a marathon a day, or about 38 KM every single day. He did that for 143 days, and covered over 5,373 KM before he succumb to cancer and died as a 22 year old.

Has anybody on this board ever ran even a single marathon? How about doing it consecutively for a week? How about after your feet are all bloodied and blistered, the stump that was once your leg in excruciating pain? How about fighting through cramps, sore muscles, tired lungs? Do you think you could have continued? I'm sorry, but it makes skiing down a mountain or skating around an ice rink look like nothing.

There isn't another athlete on the planet who better embodies the Olympic spirit or ideals as Terry Fox. He fought when it would have been easy to quit; he had the drive and character to fight through the pain and accomplish more than anyone would have thought possible. He never gave up and fought like a champion right until the very end.

Selecting Betty Fox to light the torch would be the ultimate tribute to Terry Fox. It would further spread his message, his story, and celebrate the greatest Canadian athlete in a way that he rightly deserves. It is a message of triumph, of courage, of character, and human decency that every athlete should aspire to.

The mere suggestion that this would be "so typically mediocre Canadian" couldn't be further from the truth. Having Trevor Linden light the torch might be confused as such, but not Betty Fox on behalf of Terry Fox. Let the story of Terry Fox once again be told via the Olympics to the billions of people that will be watching about the greatest British Columbian athlete and a truly remarkable person who accomplished so much in his tragically short life.

Let us tell the story that deserves to be told: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xjgTlCTluPA

If Terry Fox himself was lighting the flame I'd be for it. We're talking about Terry Fox's mom doing it.

I never said Terry Fox is just another guy who got cancer. You need to get off your soapbox and stop being so melodramatic.

We can do better than his mom.

[LeftCoaster]

^Bingo

I would be all for Terry Fox himself lighting the flame, but this is his mother... she is not a notable athlete, and has absolutely nothing to do with the Olympics what so ever.

[mr.x]

^ precisely what we've been all saying. It doesn't make sense.

However, I would support Betty Fox being one of the first torchbearers in Victoria on Oct. 22 or one of the torchbearers while the flame is in the city.