The Vancouver 2010 Winter Paralympic Games Torch Relay will visit 11 communities in Canada, starting March 2, 2010 in Canada’s capital city of Ottawa.
The 10-day event will culminate in the lighting of the Paralympic Cauldron at BC Place in downtown Vancouver on March 12, said the Vancouver 2010 organizing committee Thursday.
John Furlong, VANOC’s Chief Executive Officer said, “these 11 communities are sparks across this great land that shed light on and honour the remarkable athletic achievements of Paralympians and their triumphs over adversity. As the Paralympic Flame approaches Vancouver, this light will only grow stronger as Canadians and people around the world join together with us in a celebration of what is possible if you dare to dream”.
There will be an estimated 600 torchbearers carrying the flame in the curved steel blue torch starting at the Parliament Buildings in Ottawa. A special Aboriginal-themed lighting ceremony with a “uniquely” Canadian flair will spark the Paralympic Flame which has no ancestral home. Each of the 10 provinces and three territories will name a torchbearer to participate in the ceremony on the historic front lawns of Parliament Hill.
In March 2010 approximately 1,000 athletes and officials from more than 40 countries will take part in five sports – alpine and cross-country skiing, ice sledge hockey, wheelchair curling, and biathlon – at the Vancouver 2010 Paralympic Games.
Tickets for all Paralympic events, including the Opening Ceremonies, will be back on sale Saturday on the official Vancouver 2010 website as part of Phase three of ticket sales for the Games.
