UVic To Welcome Olympic Torch

It’s too early for snow but that won’t stop snowboarders, hockey players and curlers from putting on a show at the University of Victoria to welcome the Olympic torch when it comes to campus on Oct. 30.

The Vancouver 2010 Olympic Torch Relay begins that day in Victoria, and UVic will be one of its first destinations. The torch is expected to arrive on campus via McGill Road sometime between 5 and 5:20 p.m. It will continue around Ring Road to Henderson Road and then exit campus.

To celebrate the torch arrival, UVic is hosting “Olympic Torch Day,” a community celebration of UVic’s tradition of excellence in athletics and health and wellness research and initiatives. The festivities will be held in the Centennial Stadium parking lot (parking lot 4) from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. Community members are invited to join students, faculty and staff at a barbecue, to meet current and former UVic athletes and Olympians, and check out the exhibits about campus sports clubs and recreational opportunities.

“UVic has a proud tradition of athletic excellence and we’ll have an exhibit from the BC Sports Hall of Fame that features former Vikes athletes who have gone on to excel in their sports,” says UVic Athletics and Recreation Director Clint Hamilton. “We’ll also have the torch from the 1988 Olympics in Calgary on site and available for people to hold and have photos taken.”

UVic’s Snowboard Club will be demonstrating their sport on a mini-mountain and visitors are encouraged to experience snowboarding on a simulated slope. Sidney Crosby wannabes can test the speed of their slap shot at the radar hockey display.

The Olympic flame will be lit in a traditional ceremony in Olympia, Greece, on Oct. 22. Once presented to the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (VANOC), the Olympic flame will board a trans-Atlantic flight and arrive in Victoria, signaling the start of the 2010 Olympic Torch Relay.

-- 30 --