I walked Jeff to work this morning and we had good timing – the Olympic Torch Relay came down Granville pretty much at the same time. We even managed to luck into a spot that had comparatively few tourons about and got some good video and photos. The hand-off occurred just around the corner on Nelson and so we got to see two runners; Jeff says the first one was Sebastian Coe (sic?) a British Olympic athlete from back in the day, shown here:
I can’t say how much it suits a Vancouver-based Olympics that a) the torch looks like a giant joint, and b) they’re posing in front of a head-shop.
I loves me some irony.
Wayne Gretzsky's dad is somewhere in this picture. Dressed in white and holding a giant flaming torch, he might be easy to miss.
Wayne Gretzsky’s dad, whose first name continually escapes me no matter how many times you might remind me, ran the torch for the leg down Granville. Well, he didn’t run, so much as stroll. He didn’t even try to jog, trot or stride. I was kind of let down – where’s the drama, the sense of urgency that’s supposed to be there? What if the torch is late because Gretzsky senior can’t manage a fast-paced strut for six blocks? I know the guy’s in his sixties, but if you’re gonna get the opportunity to carry the Olympic torch because your claim to fame is that your kid is good at hockey, at least hop on the treadmill and work on your cardio a little bit.
Walter. Give the man some respect, his son is popular.
It was pretty cool to see!