Speedskating medallist Susan Auch waves to the crowd in Calgary's Olympic Oval on Tuesday morning. (Jeff McIntosh/Canadian Press) Speedskating medallist Susan Auch hoisted the torch in the Olympic Oval on the second day of the flame's three-day journey through Calgary.
Thousands of cheering fans gathered at the oval for the Tuesday morning event, hosted by another Olympic medallist, Catriona Le May Doan.
Several people skated the torch around the oval, including Auch, whose three Olympic medals include a bronze at the 1988 Games in Calgary, and promising teenage short-track speedskater Kyle Yoshida. The Canadian Olympic speedskating team also did laps around the oval, waving to the enthusiastic crowd.
After the torch left the oval, there was a free public skate with Le May Doan.
Torch tours through Calgary and area
The torch is travelling through northwest and northeast Calgary on Tuesday, the 82nd day of the cross-Canada relay, before heading to some communities outside the city, including Strathmore and Airdrie.
As the torch passed Branton Junior High School in northwest Calgary, a school band and hundreds of teenagers rooted the torch on. Nathanial Mah watched as the runners passed his school.
"It was really fun. The flame has come all the way from Greece so it's kind of inspirational to see … It's going all across the world and everyone is seeing it. It's inspired so many people to try out and do what they want to do," said Mah.
On Wednesday morning the torch will journey through southwest Calgary, including a stop at the Canada Olympic Park at about 9:15 a.m. Then it visits Bowness before heading west to British Columbia.
Detailed maps of the route are available on the Vancouver 2010 website.
The Olympic torch arrived in Calgary at around 4 p.m. Monday, to cheering crowds, travelling north on Macleod Trail then looping around downtown via 17th Avenue S.W., 14 Street S.W. and Ninth Avenue S.W.
The torch was carried into Olympic Plaza by Robyn Perry, now Robyn Ainsworth, who was just 12 years old when the world saw her light a giant cauldron in McMahon Stadium, symbolically launching the 1988 Calgary Olympics.
Musicians, dancers and Olympic athletes were at the free event, which attracted about 20,000 people, according to Calgary police.
