Olympic flame for 2010 Vancouver Winter Games arrives in Canada

Olympic flame for 2010 Vancouver Winter Games arrives in Canada

Gregor Robertson (front), mayor of host city Vancouver, carried the flame off the plane in a miner's lantern in Victoria, westernmost provincial capital of Canada, Oct. 30, 2009. The Olympic flame for the 2010 Vancouver Winter Games arrived here Friday morning from Greece for the kickoff of a nationwide torch relay.

VANCOUVER, Oct. 30 -- The Olympic flame for 2010 Vancouver Winter Games has arrived Friday morning in Victoria, Canada's westernmost provincial capital, from Greece for the kickoff of a nationwide torch relay.

Earlier Friday morning, at 8:42 am (Pacific Time), a Canadian Forces Polaris aircraft touched down on Canadian soil at the Victoria International Airport with the Olympic flame and a Canadian delegation on board from Athens, Greece.

Vancouver Games Organizing Committee CEO John Furlong (R) and Darlene, wife of the late Jack Poole, who was chairman of the Vancouver Olympic organizing committee's board of directors light the Olympic cauldron in Victoria, westernmost provincial capital of Canada, Oct. 30, 2009.

The Olympic flame for 2010 Vancouver Winter Games was kindled at Olympia, Greece, the ancestral home of the ancient Olympic Games on Oct. 22, and was handed to Canadian officials for the Games by members of the Hellenic Olympic Committee Thursday in Athens after a week-long relay through Greece.

The Olympic flame was greeted at the Victoria airport. Gregor Robertson, mayor of host city Vancouver, carried the flame off the plane in a miner's lantern, as the stirring skirls of a solo bagpiper filled the early morning air.

The first torchbearers, former Canadian speed skater Catriona Le May Doan (R) and her compatriot triathlete Simon Whitfield, hold up the Olympic torch following its arrival in Victoria, westernmost provincial capital of Canada, Oct. 30, 2009.

The Canadian prime minister Stephen Harper, British Columbia Premier Gordon Campbell and Vancouver Games Organizing Committee CEO John Furlong joined the flame's arrival celebration at the airport.

The flame convoy arrived in downtown Victoria at 9:45 am and the lantern travelled across Victoria's Inner Harbour in a trio of traditional West Coast dugout canoes of the Four Host First Nations.

The first torchbearers, former Canadian speed skater Catriona Le May Doan (2nd R) and her compatriot triathlete Simon Whitfield (3rd R), light the Olympic torch following its arrival in Victoria, westernmost provincial capital of Canada, Oct. 30, 2009.

After a traditional ceremony of First Nations, the flame was carried by First Nations chiefs, who sang traditional songs, to a stage setup on the grounds of the British Columbia Parliament Buildings for the start of the public welcoming ceremony.
(Xinhua)