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Posted Jan 30, 2010, 6:32 PM
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Join Date: Aug 2008
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Of course, naturally. How could it have been anyone else?
Quote:
Why Wayne Gretzky will open the Olympics
The Globe and Mail
By Gary Mason, The Globe and Mail Posted Saturday, January 30, 2010 1:03 PM ET
John Furlong can count on one hand the number of people who know who will light the Olympic cauldron in two weeks.
"But if word ever got out," the chief executive officer of the Vancouver Olympic organizing committee told me recently, "we would make a change and anyone who might be affected knows this. We are determined to keep it a surprise."
Fair enough. Who'd want to ruin the Games' great wow moment?
But that hasn't stifled rampant speculation or stopped Facebook groups from being formed to build momentum behind a particular candidate. At last look, a site demanding that the cauldron be lit by Betty Fox - mother of one-legged Marathon of Hope runner Terry - had more than 120,000 members.
Besides, now that we know who will be Canada's flag-bearer at the opening ceremonies - Clara Hughes - the identity of the person lighting the cauldron is the last great Olympic secret left.
I'll confess to being a little obsessed with knowing who it is. Today I will hazard my best guess based on nothing more than hunch and intuition. Although, when you see my choice, you'll likely say a Tanzanian monkey could have arrived at the same conclusion.
You may be right.
The list of realistic candidates is becoming shorter by the day, as those of us consumed with solving this riddle know.
Senator Nancy Greene Raine, for instance, was on most people's list. She has gold-medal credentials as a former Olympic skier. But when she was named Canada's Olympic ambassador for the Games two weeks ago, it seemed unlikely she would be asked to be the last to carry the torch as well. Then when she carried the flame this week in Kamloops, that cinched the deal.
She was out.
Man-in-Motion Rick Hansen was also on most short lists, often in the No. 1 position. Born in B.C., Hansen was an amazing disabled athlete, known internationally, who embodied the best of the Olympic ideals. His bona fides to be the cauldron lighter were impeccable. Some imagined a scenario where Betty Fox and Hansen lit it together.
Then it was announced this week that Hansen will carry the flame in Richmond, B.C., three days before the Olympics.
Scratch him.
Former Vancouver Canucks great Trevor Linden has made it on some people's roster of candidates, but I don't see it. A wonderful person and former Olympian, Linden is adored in the host city. But he's not a name nationally or internationally. He'll run with the torch somewhere, but not into the stadium on opening day.
For me, the choice is between Betty Fox and Wayne Gretzky.
Fox would be an inspiring choice, without doubt. The memory of her son's courageous journey to raise money for cancer research is as strong as ever. The name Terry Fox resonates globally. And Fox has been about as perfect a custodian and guardian of her son's dreams and ambitions that you could find. Still, when I close my eyes and imagine that moment, I don't see her lighting the cauldron.
Maybe passing the torch to the person who does, or running with the flame through the neighbourhood in Coquitlam, B.C., where she raised Terry, but not lighting the cauldron.
Which leaves Gretzky.
In some ways, he seems too obvious a choice. I mean, when you think of guarding a big international secret like the one Furlong has under his coat, you don't think of someone who inspires: "Ah, well, that's a little obvious isn't it?" But that's what Furlong is counting on.
"When the moment happens," Furlong said, "I hope that everyone watching will say, 'Of course, naturally. How could it have been anyone else?' "
There is not a more iconic athlete in the nation, a winter sports athlete at that, than Gretzky. While his image is not quite as pristine and untarnished as it once was, the former hockey superstar is still widely loved and respected in his home country. He is an international brand name whose image is instantly recognizable from Tokyo to Moscow.
He is also a former Olympian (Nagano, 1998) and, of course, owns a gold medal as the executive director of the Canadian men's hockey team that won it all at the Winter Games in Salt Lake City in 2002, one of the greatest Olympic moments in our country's history.
Think of the picture that will be beamed around the world when that memorable moment arrives, when the Olympic cauldron is lit to signal the opening of the 2010 Winter Games. When people see that it's Wayne Gretzky, you can imagine their reaction: "Of course, how could it have been anyone else?"
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Source: Globe and Mail
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