Paralympian multiple gold medallist Arnold Boldt was the first torchbearer for the Paralympic Winter Games. (CBC)

Just as one torch symbolizing athletic excellence was extinguished, another was lit Wednesday in Ottawa.

Paralympian multiple gold medallist Arnold Boldt became the first torchbearer for the 2010 Paralympic Winter Games, taking up the flame from the Olympic cauldron at a lighting ceremony on Parliament Hill Wednesday morning.

Boldt, who lost his right leg in a grain auger accident when he was three, won three gold medals in the high jump and long jump at the Toronto 1976 Paralympic Games. He participated in four subsequent Paralympic Games, winning other gold and silver medals and breaking high jump records in the process.

Boldt is currently the dean of technology programs for the Saskatchewan Institute of Applied Science and Technology.

Paralympic Games ambassador Sam Sullivan and Vancouver organizing committee boss John Furlong were in Ottawa for the start of the relay, along with Heritage Minister James Moore and Minister of State for Sport Gary Lunn.

The torch relay has three stops in central Canada before heading into B.C. on Saturday where it will stop on Vancouver Island and in Vancouver.

The Games get underway with opening ceremonies at B.C. Place next Friday.

Fifty-five Canadian athletes will compete along with 1,300 other competitors from 43 countries. They will all be vying for gold in five events: alpine skiing, cross-country skiing, biathlon, curling and sledge hockey.

With files from CBC News