I really love this article, and it really highlights exactly why I got so hyped up about the Olympics (not just 2010) several years ago.
As well, the first bit of the article describes how Australia/Sydney 2000 was in the same situation and in the same anti-2000 political climate as Canada/Vancouver 2010 is today with social and economic issues being at the core. But when the flame arrived in Australia, everything changed.
I can only hope for the same here - well actually, I know it'll be the same.
Wendy Craig Duncan carries the Olympic torch underwater at the Great Barrier Reef.
Photograph by : Steve Nutt
Flame's arrival turned public towards Games, Australia's torch relay organizer says
By Jeff Lee
Vancouver Sun
November 30, 2008
When Di Henry thinks about what can go wrong with an Olympic Games and what can make it right, she thinks about the 2000 Sydney Games torch relay.
Going into the final half-year of preparations for Australia's Summer Games, the public sentiment was against the organizing committee, she recalled.
The media had given the organizers a rough ride and the public was preoccupied with everything from the economy to social issues.
But when the torch landed at Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park for the start of its 100-day journey around Australia, attitudes began to change.
Henry, who was in charge of organizing the relay, said the appearance of the torch in small towns and big cities touched a nerve and gave people hope.
"For once, in country towns they weren't worried about a lack of jobs or drugs or all of those things that can be depressing. It was marvellous. They were heroes for the day and it made everyone feel special," she said.
"What it did was turn the tide for the organizing committee because they were in the slump. Public opinion was not with them."
Henry knows a lot about the organization of a torch relay and the psychology behind it. Since Sydney, she's helped run relays for the 2006 Turin and 2008 Beijing Olympics, as well as several Commonwealth and Asian games. She's now working with Canadian banking institution RBC, which with Coca-Cola is a co-presenting sponsor for the 2010 Winter Games torch relay.
The two sponsors, along with the Vancouver Organizing Committee and the federal government are putting on a 106-day cross-country relay beginning Oct. 30, 2009.
This week, Henry, who has temporarily moved from Sydney to Toronto to organize RBC's portion of the 2010 relay, will tour British Columbia as part of the 2010 Legacies Now Speakers Series to tell people and businesses how to take advantage of the event.
The Canadian relay will be among the longest and most challenging in Olympic history. Covering 45,000 kilometres, it technically is the longest relay ever inside a single country. There have been others that lasted longer or went farther, but they included other countries, she said. Canada's relay will be the toughest, however, just by virtue of climate and geography. Taking place in the middle of winter, it will challenge the 200 members of the relay organization team just to keep it on time, she said.
Henry says torch relays are popular because they touch people on many levels.
"People love pageantry. They love celebrations. They love getting together and having a good time. I think pageantry allows people to leave the everyday behind for a moment, and whether it is a Christmas Parade or the Mardi Gras, it allows people to celebrate in the moment."
The symbolism of carrying a flame is also part of the magic, she said.
"I think human beings are hard-wired into some evolutionary ideas about flame. We are quite delighted by fire. I think the elusiveness of carrying a flame also has some special symbolism. The Olympics has laid on top of carrying that flame the concepts of hope and unity.
"People delight in people being special. Whether it is your mother or grandmother or daughter, they get to be a torchbearer and assist in handling the flame all the way to the cauldron. People think that is marvellous."
Although official sponsorship opportunities around torch relays are limited, Henry says there are lots of ways for businesses to get involved.
"Don't look at it so much from a marketing point of view but from a supply of services. Councils are going to be producing banners, so they will need to go to a banner production company. They'll need fencing and scrims and screens and other things," she said.
Regional tourism promotion is also important. Torch relays expose the media to areas that they otherwise might not visit, Henry said. And all it takes is one iconic image to make the difference.
Henry recounted the day scuba diver Wendy Craig-Duncan carried the torch underwater at Agincourt Reef in Queensland.
"We had 200 international media there. You couldn't have asked for more exposure," she said. "So showcasing your area, your community, has quite some influential long-term benefits."
Henry also likes Vanoc's idea of asking would-be torchbearers to make a pledge to something good.
"Up until now, it was that torchbearers were picked for what they did. I like this idea of paying it forward," she said.
"It is about building a better Canada, of being self-aware of what it means to be Canadian and what are you going to do to make things better."
Henry will give her first speech in Kamloops today before speaking in Cranbrook on Tuesday.
She will be at the Vancouver Board of Trade luncheon on Wednesday and in Victoria on Friday.
For more information go to
www.2010legaciesnow.com
[email protected]
Prev
What were you expecting, a bow and arrow somehow fashioned in to a torch? 
.
Linear Mode
