Vancouver Olympic Torch Relay To Traverse Canada In 106 Days

Furlong (l), Campbell (r) Try To Allay Fears That Protestors Will Interrupt 2010 Torch Relay

The 2010 Olympic torch relay will be an "ambitious 106-day undertaking that will begin on Oct. 30, 2009, at Mile Zero of the Trans-Canada Highway in Victoria" and will pass through "every Canadian province and territory," according to Gary Kingston of the VANCOUVER SUN. The torch will cover 26,000 kilometers by land, 18,000 by air and 1,000 by sea, and will be "carried by more than 12,000 torch-bearers using everything from their feet to snowmobiles, skis and snowboards." The torch is "scheduled to hit 1,020 communities Canada-wide, including 115 aboriginal centres." The 45,000 total kilometers covered will be "more than any other domestic torch relay in Olympic history." Canadians can "apply to be one of the 2010 torch bearers through the websites of presenting sponsors" Coca-Cola and RBC. VANOC CEO John Furlong and B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell both "tried to play down fears that protest groups will use the torch relay's profile to stage demonstrations or disrupt the run" (VANCOUVER SUN, 11/22). In Vancouver, Damian Inwood reported Canadians, to qualify as a torchbearer, have to "make a pledge to do something in their daily lives to make Canada better or to live more active lives." Pledges in a promotional video include "collecting litter, turning down the thermostat and drying washing outdoors" (Vancouver PROVINCE, 11/23). The GLOBE & MAIL's Rod Mickleburgh reported "each leg of the $35[M] relay will be 500 metres long" (GLOBE & MAIL, 11/22).

JUMPING THE GUN: In Vancouver, Jeff Lee reported VANOC granted the media early access to the torch relay information but "insisted it could not be made public" until Friday at 10:30am PT during a press conference. But an RBC official "misunderstood the rules or confused the timing of the release and hit the send button at 9:01 a.m. Vancouver time." VANOC lifted the embargo at 9:41am "in the face of clamouring reporters wondering why they had to continue to respect the embargo" (CANADA.com, 11/21).

ALSO STAYING CLOSE TO HOME? In London, Ashling O'Connor reported the int'l leg of the 2012 Olympic torch relay "could be abandoned ... during a debrief of the Beijing Games by the IOC" this week. LOCOG officials are "leaning towards a domestic-only relay, after the mandatory passage of the flame from its source in Olympia, Greece, to the host country." The officials "prefer a tour of famous sporting locations in Great Britain, bringing the torch to within 30 minutes of the whole population, instead of a risky and high-profile international relay that would prove difficult to control against a fast-changing geo-political backdrop." O'Connor noted Olympic sponsors such as Coca-Cola and Samsung "will have strong views about the negative impact of the relay on their brands and the relatively low exposure they received during the [Beijing] Games in return for multimillion-dollar investments" (LONDON TIMES, 11/22).