If the Flame Could Talk...

Yesterday and Today, the Olympic Flame is travelling through different areas of the GTA (Greater Toronto Area) and the event has drawn lots of people. A coworker is even taking her daughter out of school to take her to see the torch. Undoubtedly, the Olympic Games and everything around them is one of the international happenings that brings the whole world together and breaks any kind of cultural barriers and differences.

However, each of the organizing countries, from Germany, to Japan, to Australia and Brazil, has tried to imprint thier own cultural mark to the Games they have hosted.

I was reading today that the relay of the flame in each case is meticulously planned so that its route from Greece and the torch bearers convey a specific message of the culture and history of the host country. In Mexico (1968), for instance, they wanted the relay to retrace the route Christopher Columbus followed when he discovered the New World. In 1996 (Atlanta), the flame traveled in an Indian canoe and in 2000 (Sydney) it traveled under water through the famous Great Barrier Reef .

In regards to the bearers, at first it was mainly athletes, but gradually the general public began to participate as well. This time in Canada 12,000 people will have the chance to carry the torch as it travels through 1,000 communities covering more or less 45,000 kilometers.

Imagine the trip! Imagine all the stories it would tell us if only the flame could talk!