Here’s the thing about the Olympic torch-lighting ceremony which, come to think about it, is the thing about the entire Olympic movement.
If you believe the Olympics represents something deep and profound about the human condition – and is not just a wildly profitable sports brand – then you believe in all of this.
You believe the Olympic flame is a powerful symbol of peace and unity in the world. You believe the torch relay – which starts Thursday in Greece and wanders around the country for seven days before it’s passed over to VANOC in Athens – has the power to unite the country.
You even believe the torch-lighting ceremony, which kicks off the whole enterprise Thursday, is a timeless ritual which puts us all in touch with the ancient Greeks and the birthplace of democracy.
Now, not all share in this belief, but if you’ve worked on the Vancouver Games night and day for the better part of a decade, you can feel everything the ceremony represents. And standing here on this day – amid the olive trees and the ruins of ancient Olympia – you can’t help but feel the same tug.
“I think (Thursday) is going to be a really special day for all of us,” said Terry Wright, VANOC’s executive vice-president. “For many of us it’s 10 years-plus of work. (Thursday) begins the countdown and 117 days later the flame gets lit in Vancouver in the cauldron.
“I thought it would be neat to see the flame, but I wasn’t expecting to feel as overpowered by the ground we’re standing on and the thought that, 2,500 years ago, this whole idea of people competing in peace began. It’s a great idea and we’re about to do our part to push it along.”
Thursday, at the Temple of Hera and the site of the first Olympic Stadium, a ceremony which is steeped in symbolism will symbolically begin the final countdown to the Vancouver Winter Games. It will begin with a torch lighting by the high priestess, followed by her prayer to the god Apollo, followed by an interpretive dance by seven of the lesser priestesses, and will culminate with the passing of the flame to the first torch bearer in the Greek portion of the relay.
In this case, it’s Vassilis Demitriadis, the Greek slalom specialist who’s taken part in three Olympics.
OK, you can insert your own Greek-skiing joke here, but, the point is, none of this holds up if you start wondering about champion skiers in a Mediterranean country or how you become a high priestess these days.
You just have to suspend your sense of belief. Then it all begins to make sense.
“It’s absolutely stunning to see the emotions in everyone around us today, feel the energy, to look at that flame and the message and the power behind the flame,” said Jim Richards, the program director for the torch relay.
And what message is that?
“The message behind the flame is the message behind the Olympic Games. It’s the spiritual element, it’s enlightenment, it’s brotherhood, it’s peace. It’s all the values we see coming out in the Games.”
Well, maybe not all of them, but let’s press on.
This ceremony has been designed especially for Vancouver 2010 and therein lies a story. This will be the first time the torch-lighting ceremony will be held at the ancient stadium for a Winter Games. In the past, it was held at the De Coubertin Grove, situated just up the hill from the stadium and named for Pierre de Coubertin, the founder of the modern Olympics.
Two years ago, however, wild fires consumed much of this area and wiped out the De Coubertin Grove. Those same wildfires – which swept across Greece and resulted in a state of emergency – also threatened the site of the Olympic stadium before they were turned away by a firefighting force augmented by archeologists and townspeople from Olympia.
Powerful forces were at work on this site, that day. Maybe they can’t all be explained but they were still there.
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