2010 Vancover olympics

With only 113 days until the Opening Ceremony of the Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver, the Olympic flame was lit today in Olympia, symbolically marking the beginning of the Torch Relay that will bring the flame to the shores of British Columbia. The flame was lit successfully by a Holy Priestess in front of the Temple of Hera (relive it here), according to the traditional ritual, using the sun’s rays and a parabolic mirror. The priestess entered the Ancient Olympic Stadium with the torch and handed it over to the first runner of the Vancouver 2010 Torch Relay, Vassilis Dimitriadis.

In the presence of the President of the Hellenic Olympic Committee, Mr Spyros Capralos, and the CEO of the Vancouver 2010 Organising Committee (VANOC), John Furlong, IOC President Jacques Rogge said in his speech: “It is always a special moment to be in Olympia, the birthplace of our Movement. The Olympic torch and flame are symbols of the values and ideals which lie at the heart of the Olympic Games. The relay is a message of friendship and respect to millions of people of different nationalities, races and creeds”. He continued, “The longest national Olympic Torch Relay in history will create a spirit of global community and world citizenship. It will inspire new hopes, new dreams, particularly among the younger generation, to take part in the Games. It will invite Canadians and visitors from around the world to gather and celebrate the Games with glowing hearts.”
Symbolic Message of Peace

After a short relay in Greece, the flame will be passed to the Vancouver 2010 Organising Committee (VANOC) on 29 October in Athens, before being flown to Victoria, Canada, where it will arrive on 30 October. It will then travel through all 13 provinces and territories of Canada, involving 189 community celebrations and covering some 45,000 kilometres, before entering BC Place Stadium on 12 February 2010. More than 12,000 torchbearers will bring together tens of thousands of people to witness the event, bringing with it a symbolic message of peace across the country.

Vancouver and Whistler will host the XXI Olympic Winter Games from 12 to 28 February 2010 and the 2010 Paralympic Winter Games from 12 to 21 March 2010. The seven Winter Olympic sports that will be on show in Vancouver are Luge, Skiing, Skating, Ice Hockey, Biathlon, Bobsleigh and Curling.

Todt elected FIA president

Frenchman Jean Todt was elected president of the International Automobile Federation (FIA) on Friday. The ex-Ferrari Formula One team boss, who stood against Finland's former world rally champion Ari Vatanen, succeeds Max Mosley as head of world motorsport's governing body.

"Jean Todt has been elected president of the FIA for a four-year term by the FIA General Assembly at its annual meeting in Paris," an FIA statement said.Officials said Todt had won 135 votes to Vatanen's 49, with 12 abstentions."It's positive, very positive," seven-times Formula One champion Michael Schumacher told waiting reporters after the news was announced.Todt had been backed throughout an increasingly acrimonious campaign by Mosley and had also received support from Schumacher and Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone.Vatanen, a former European parliamentarian, stood on a platform of change and transparent governance to make a clean break from the Mosley era.Mosley, whose private life became very public last year

when it emerged that he had engaged in sado-masochistic sex sessions with prostitutes, had been FIA president since 1993.