The Olympic flame changes hands in Thompson, Man. on day nine of the torch relay. (Ian Graham/Thompson Citizen) The Olympic flame makes a stop in Churchill, Man., Sunday on Day 10 of the 106-day cross-Canada torch relay.
Local teacher Joanne Stover will carry the torch for the last leg of the run and light the cauldron in the remote northern town of about 1,000 people.
"Just looking in Churchill, everyone is so excited," Stover said. She was nominated as a torch-bearer by community members. The privilege came as a surprise to her.
"Initially I thought, 'Oh my goodness, can I do this?'" Stover said. "But it's such an honour, so humbling, and so thrilling that, I mean, I couldn't say no."
A group of Stover's students will sing O Canada in the languages of Cree, Inuktitut, French and English.
After the Churchill stop, the flame winds its way to Alert, Nunavut.
Torch winds over provincial lines
On Saturday, a child’s rendition of the national anthem in Cree, along with a spirited torch handoff by 20 exuberant runners, sparked the day's events.
The Olympic flame touched down in Lac La Ronge, Sask., to a greeting from the Cree Nation and the youngster’s moving version of the national anthem in her native tongue.
Grade 11 student Natasha Boyes was nominated to light the local Olympic cauldron. Like Stover, she said she had no idea she had been nominated.
Maureen Hrbachek passes the Olympic flame to noted community volunteer Darion Latchman in Thompson, Man., on Saturday. (Ian Graham/Thompson Citizen) "It was unbelievable. I had no idea whatsoever," Boyes said. "It was a big shock."
Following a parade through town, the flame was on the move again, crossing provincial lines and several hundred kilometres to reach Thompson, Man.
That’s where a group of 20 people took up the torch, but Canadian Press photographer Jonathan Hayward said the large group finished the run before all the torchbearers had a chance to carry the flame.
Hayward said the excited runners formed a circle, jumping and shouting, as they passed the torch from hand to hand, apparently unwilling for the moment to end.
With files from The Canadian Press
