Olympic flame on its way to Canada

In a ceremony at Panathinaiko Stadium in Athens, the venue for the first modern Olympics in 1896, Greek officials entrusted the Olympic Flame to a Canadian delegation for the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games.  The flame is now on its way to Canada.

The Olympic Flame will touch down aboard a Canadian Forces aircraft in Canada at approximately 7:15 am local time on Friday, October 30 and will emerge in a miner's lantern (photo right) and arrive on Canadian soil for the start of its journey across the country.

It will be carried via a trio of traditional First Nations canoes for the start of the public welcoming ceremony in front of an expected crowd of thousands in Victoria, BC, at 9:30 am. The first torchbearer - whose name remains a closely guarded secret - will kick-off the official start of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Torch Relay after leaving the grounds of the British Columbia Parliament Buildings.

"Forty-five-thousand kilometres and 106 days later, the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Torch Relay will end in Vancouver with the lighting of the Olympic Cauldron on February 12, 2010," said Robertson, mayor of the Host City for the Games. "Along the way, 12,000 people will have proudly carried the Olympic Flame and brought Canadians and the entire world with them on their journey to our city. Vancouver is ready and waiting to welcome the world."

For more information on the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Torch Relay visit http://www.vancouver2010.com/torchrelay.