Redux: Who will light the Olympic Flame?

In true Canadian form, we couldn't just let one person light the Olympic Flame. However, all four lighters were great choices:

1. Catriona Le May Doan: One of my favourite Canadian athletes. A well deserved choice from the past decade. And she's a woman of the faith, to boot.


2. Nancy Greene: Canada's top female athlete of the 20th century, she won Canada's only two individual medals from the 1968 Grenoble Olympics, bringing home gold and silver. (The only other medal won was the men's hockey bronze.)


3. Steve Nash: I was surprised to see him in the final four, but it makes sense since he's a local boy, raised in Vancouver and Victoria.


4. Wayne Gretzky: The obvious choice. He's probably Canada's best-known athlete internationally, and he has done a lot to advance the popularity of hockey. A well-deserved, albeit unsurprising, honour.

I was hoping to see Betty Fox carry the flame; however, she was one of eight people carrying the Olympic flag into BC Place, so that's a pretty good compromise. There were some other good choices amongst the flagbearers: Julie Payette, Bobby Orr, Barbara Ann Scott, Roméo Dallaire, and Donald Sutherland. They also included Jacques Villeneuve and Anne Murray. (ahem)

Rick Hansen carried the flame into BC Place - a nice tribute to the man.

Hayley Wickenheiser, role model and inspiration to tens of thousands of young hockey players across the country, read the oath. Amazing choice.

Thankfully, they didn't pick some random kid to light the flame at the Olympics. They did at the Paralympics, though. Oh well.