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| Host city | Calgary, Canada |
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| Countries visited | Greece, Canada |
| Distance | 18,000 km |
| Torch bearers | 6,214 |
| Start date | 15 November 1987 |
| End date | 13 February 1988 |
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| Part of a series on |
| 1988 Winter Olympics |
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The 1988 Winter Olympics torch relay was run from November 15, 1987, to February 13, 1988, prior to the Calgary 1988 Winter Olympics.
The planning of the Torch Relay required significant research and testing, with each kilometer of the relay test-driven three times, and estimates that each torch bearer would travel at a speed of 7 km/h. [1] The relay kept to secondary highways as much as possible and used Snowmobiles for 2,750 km between Shanty Bay, Ontario and Prince Albert, Saskatchewan. [1] Overall the torch travelled approximately 11,000 km on land and 7,000 km by air or sea. [1]
Relay sponsor Petro Canada issued entry forms allowing citizens the chance to become one of 6,214 people to carry the torch for 1 kilometre (0.62 mi), torch bears were either chosen on merit or selected through random draws. [2] [3] Organizers, who initially expected to receive 250,000 entries, were inundated with over 6.6 million forms and called the response a sign that the Olympics had "fired the imagination of Canada". [4] [5] Part of the success for the number of applications was the OCO in February 1987 sending approximately 10 million applications out to virtually every Canadian household. [2] The relay, called "Share the Flame", also saw the torch travel by boat, snowmobile and dogsled. [1]
The Olympic Torch relay involved a convoy of 80 people in 40 support vehicles travelling 125 kilometers per day. [2]
The Olympic torch relay began when the torch was lit at Olympia and Greek runner Stelios Bisbas began what was called "the longest torch run in history". [6] The flame arrived in St. John's, Newfoundland on the Atlantic Ocean two days later and over 88 days, traveled west across Canada. [4] It passed through each provincial capital and many major cities, north to the Arctic Ocean at Inuvik, Northwest Territories, then west to the Pacific Ocean at Victoria, British Columbia before returning east to Alberta, and finally Calgary. [1] The route was designed in a way that 90 per cent of Canadians lived within a 2-hour drive of the route. [1] The torch covered a distance of 18,000 kilometres (11,000 mi), the greatest distance for a torch relay in Olympic history until the 2000 Sydney Games, and a sharp contrast to the 1976 Montreal Games when the relay covered only 775 kilometres (482 mi). [7]
The identity of the final torchbearer who would light the Olympic cauldron was one of OCO'88's most closely guarded secrets. [8] [9] The relay began at St. John's with Barbara Ann Scott, a 1948 gold medalist in figure skating and Ferd Hayward, the first Newfoundlander to represent Canada at an Olympic games in 1952, both representing Canada's past Olympians. [8] The relay and ended with Ken Read and Cathy Priestner carrying the torch into McMahon Stadium representing the nation's current Olympians. They then stopped to acknowledge the contribution of para-athlete Rick Hansen and his "Man in Motion" tour [10] before handing the torch to 12-year-old Robyn Perry, an aspiring figure skater who was selected to represent future Olympians, to light the cauldron. [9] The choice of Perry was an unusual departure from most Games as the cauldron has typically been lit by a famous individual or group from the host nation. [11]
The relay was subject to peaceful protests by members and supporters of the Lubicon Cree First Nation at several stops in Ontario and Alberta in protest of ongoing land claim disputes between the band and the Crown, as well as discontent over an exhibit at Calgary's Glenbow Museum called "The Spirit Sings" that featured numerous artifacts stolen from native land. [12]
The design of the Olympic Torch for the Calgary games was influenced by the landmark building of the Calgary skyline, the Calgary Tower. [13] The National Research Council Canada developed the design for the Torch, [13] which was constructed of maple, aluminum, and hardened steel, entirely Canadian materials, the torch was designed to remain lit despite the sometimes adverse conditions of Canadian winters. [14] The Torch had to be light enough for relay runners to carry comfortably, and the final design came in at 60 centimeters in length and 1.7 kilograms in weight. [13] [4] [15] The maple handle portion included laser-incised pictograms of the 10 official Olympic Winter sports, and lettering was engraved on the steel cauldron portion. [13] The torch used a combination of gasoline, kerosene and alcohol to allow a continuous burn during the unpredictable Canadian winter. [13] Approximately 100 torches were manufactured for the Games. [13]
The Calgary Tower itself was retrofitted to install a cauldron at its peak and was lit for the duration of the Games, one of several "replica cauldrons" constructed at Olympic venues throughout Calgary and Canmore. [16]
The Olympic flame is a symbol used in the Olympic movement. It is also a symbol of continuity between ancient and modern games. Several months before the Olympic Games, the Olympic flame is lit at Olympia, Greece. This ceremony starts the Olympic torch relay, which formally ends with the lighting of the Olympic cauldron during the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games. The flame then continues to burn in the cauldron for the duration of the Games, until it is extinguished during the Olympic closing ceremony.
The 1988 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XV Olympic Winter Games and commonly known as Calgary 1988, were a multi-sport event held from February 13 to 28, 1988, in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. It was the first Winter Olympic Games to be held for 15 days, like the counterpart Summer Olympic Games. The majority of the contested events took place in Calgary itself. However, the skiing events were held west of the city at the Nakiska ski resort in Kananaskis Country and the Canmore Nordic Centre Provincial Park in the town of Canmore.
The men's ice hockey tournament at the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, was the 16th Olympic Championship. The Soviet Union won its seventh gold medal. The silver medal was won by Finland, marking its first ever Olympic ice hockey medal. Sweden won the bronze medal. Games were held in the Olympic Saddledome, the Stampede Corral, and Father David Bauer Olympic Arena. This is so far the only Olympic tournament held on North American soil that was not won by either Canada or United States.
Robert A. Kasting is a Canadian former competition swimmer who specialized in freestyle and butterfly events. Kasting represented Canada at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, Germany, where he won the bronze medal in the men's 4x100-metre medley relay, together with Canadian teammates Erik Fish, Bruce Robertson and William Mahony.
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For the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, a total of nine sports venues were used. Calgary tried twice to host the Winter Olympics in the 1960s without success before finally winning the 1988 Winter Games in 1981. Stampede Corral was built in 1950 while McMahon Stadium was built in 1960. When the National Hockey League (NHL) Flames franchise was relocated from Atlanta, Georgia in the United States during the summer of 1980, a new arena was needed. The Saddledome construction was underway in late 1981 when Calgary was awarded the 1988 Games. Completed in 1983, the Olympic Saddledome has played host to the Flames ever since, including three Stanley Cup Finals and the NHL All-Star Game in 1985. An innovation for the games was the first indoor long-track speed skating venue which has served as a model for future Olympics. The bobsleigh and luge track was the first combination track in North America and was noted for the Jamaican bobsleigh team crash during the four-man event. Both the Oval and the bobsleigh/luge track continue to host the World Championships in their respective sports since the 1988 Winter Olympics.
The selection process for the 1988 Winter Olympics consisted of three bids, and saw Calgary, Alberta, Canada, be selected ahead of Falun, Sweden, and Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy. The selection was made at the 84th International Olympic Committee (IOC) Session in Baden-Baden, West Germany, on 30 September 1981.
The 1976 Summer Olympics torch relay celebrated the first time that a Canadian city had hosted the Games. Convention states that the flame should be lit at Olympia in Greece and then transported to Athens, making its way onwards to the host city. On this occasion a signal was sent via satellite to transmit the flame to Ottawa where it would then make its way to the 1976 Summer Olympics opening ceremony in Montreal and a second ceremony in Kingston, Ontario.
The 1996 Summer Olympics torch relay was run from April 27, 1996, until July 19, 1996, prior to the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta. The route covered 26,875 kilometers (16,699 mi) across the United States and included a trek on the Pony Express, a ride on the Union Pacific Railroad, and a torch was taken into outer space for the first time. The relay involved over 12,000 torchbearers, including Muhammad Ali, who was chosen to ignite the Olympic cauldron.
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The 2016 Summer Paralympics Torch Relay was a 7-day event leading up to the 2016 Summer Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. It began on September 1, 2016, in Brasilia and concluded at the Games' opening ceremony on September 7. The Paralympic torch relay began with five individual flames being relayed to a city in each of the five regions of Brazil. These flames, as well as a sixth flame lit in Stoke Mandeville, Great Britain, were united to form a single Paralympic flame, which was relayed through Rio on 6 and 7 September 2016 en route to its lighting at the Maracanã during the opening ceremony.
The 2022 Winter Olympics torch relay was run from 18 October 2021 until 4 February 2022. After it was lit in Olympia, Greece, the torch traveled in a symbolic relay to Athens on 19 October. The Chinese leg ended in Beijing National Stadium, at the end of the opening ceremony. On 20 October 2021, it was announced that the Chinese leg will have only three days, following a series of displays of the flame in various Chinese cities, starting on 2 February, at the morning of the first day of the Chinese New Year as stage 3. Unlike the previous relays, the relay only visited the three venues clusters, the main sights of Beijing and the city of Zhangjiakou. The final torch was lit by long-distance runner Dilnigar Ilhamjan and nordic combined Zhao Jiawen.
The Olympiques Calgary Olympics '88 (OCO'88), originally incorporated as XV Olympic Winter Games Organizing Committee was the organization responsible for overseeing the planning and development of the 1988 Winter Olympic Games.
The opening ceremony of the 1988 Winter Olympics was held on February 13, 1988, beginning at 1:30 p.m. MST at McMahon Stadium in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
A number of notable controversies and concerns associated with the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, emerged which were the subject of public debate and media commentary.
Numerous world records and Olympic records were set in various events at the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary.
"Canada's Cathy Preistner (left) and Ken Read (centre) receive the Olympic flame from Rick Hanson during the opening ceremonies of the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary
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