Olympic Flame

To appreciate the importance of this sculpture, imagine it lit up- or rather, set on fire. As tradition dictates, after being lit by the sun’s rays in Olympia, during a ceremony in the temple of Hera, the flame was first relayed throughout Greece, before reaching Athens. It then flew (by plane, not by mythological magic) to Victoria, the capital of British Columbia. Two Canadian Olympic medallists, speed skater Catriona Le May Doan and triathlete Simon Whitfield, led the way, carrying the flame on the first stage of the relay. It even flew to the territory of Nunavut, passing through the small town of Alert, the most northern inhabited place in the world, right about 817km from the North Pole! In honor of the friendly relationship between Canada and the United States, it also stopped briefly at the Peace Arch border crossing between the states of Washington and British Columbia. It required the participation and support of 560 people in Greece and 12,000 in Canada, for the Olympic flame to arrive in Vancouver, after having traveled 47,180 kilometers. Two identical cauldrons were lit, the one in the BC plaza during the opening ceremony, and the 10-meter one you can admire today. This one remained lit for the duration of the games, right up until the closing ceremony. The cauldron, made of glass and steel, represents the theme of the Vancouver Games: fire on ice. Field hockey legend Wayne Gretzky had the honor of lighting it. Although the Olympic cauldron still stands facing the waterfront, it is rarely lit. On rare occasions, the city lights the cauldron, each time causing heart-warming emotion among the locals.