Alert For The Olympic Flame

The Vancouver 2010 Olympic Torch Relay visited the northernmost permanently inhabited place in the world yesterday. The community of Alert, which is about 817 kilometres from the North Pole, saw twenty torchbearers carry the Olympic flame in temperatures ranging from minus 34°C to minus 27°C. This is the closest that the flame has ever been to the North Pole and was the tenth day of the longest national Olympic Torch Relay in history.

Northern Lights
Since arriving in Victoria, British Columbia, on 30 October, the Vancouver relay has been working its way north and has visited the Yukon, Northern Territories, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Nunavut. Thus far, the journey has seen the flame brave extremely cold temperatures and travel in a number of unique ways. The flame has, amongst other things, been transported by dog sled, chuckwagon and Polar Rover. It has also been warmly welcomed by all the communities that it has visited, with thousands turning out to cheer on the torchbearers and attend the community celebrations. These events include performances from local groups, which allow each community to share its local culture with the watching world.

VANCOUVER 2010
Vancouver and Whistler will host the XXI Olympic Winter Games from 12 to 28 February 2010 and the 2010 Paralympic Winter Games from 12 to 21 March 2010. The seven winter Olympic sports that will be on show in Vancouver are luge, skiing, skating, ice hockey, biathlon, bobsleigh and curling.