Symbol of peace ignites the Olympic Spirit
 FROM BREAST CANCER survivor to Olympic torch bearer — Tina O’Brien from Victoria, B.C., a member of the Island Breastrokers Survivor Team, was proud to hold the Olympic flame as one of the official relay runners for the 2010 Winter Olympics. |
By CATHOLINE BUTLER
Apollo God of Sun and the idea of light
send your rays and light the sacred torch
for the hospitable city of Vancouver
and you Zeus give peace to all peoples on earth
and wreath the winners of the sacred race
– Prayer by high priestess Maria Nafptiotou
to God Apollo in the Temple of Hera on October 22, 2009
VICTORIA – With the above prayer of peace, the presentation of an olive branch and the release of a snow white dove, the journey of the Olympic Flame toward the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games was blessed in a historic ceremony steeped in Greek tradition.
On October 30, the military plane carrying that same flame from Greece touched down at Victoria International Airport. For those of us not lucky enough to be there in person, we watched on television in awe as history unfolded.
When after 22 hours of flying time, the door finally slid open and Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson carefully carried the miners lamp down the steps and set the lamp on the tarmac on Canadian soil.
The torch was lit and so started the longest domestic relay in Olympic history with torch relay bearers journeying some 45,000-kilometres across Canada, with the final lap into the City of Vancouver, in time to start the games.
One of those relay torch bearers in Victoria, was Tina O’Brien, excited and nervously awaiting her turn to light the torch and run with it.
O’Brien finally got her turn on October 31, and she spoke to The Celtic Connection about her emotions as she lifted the Olympic torch.
“I don’t think, I can put into words the emotion, the excitement, the nervousness and the absolute thrill of carrying the torch for Canada. I was just immensely proud that I had been chosen. It was just amazing.
“A lot of things went through my mind. What if I dropped the torch, what if it was too heavy? Here you are with everyone watching and you are in the limelight – the adrenalin is in overdrive, it’s finally real. And you know, when I started running with the torch, I felt that 300 metres was too short, I could have run forever.”
O’Brien said what also made running with the torch on October 31, so special for her was that it was her husband Adrian’s birthday and also her grandson Colm’s, fifth birthday. She said, “It was really one of the most memorable days of my life.”
Tina O’Brien is a breast cancer survivor and a member of The Island Breaststrokers Survivor team.
“Actually, my Olympic torch run started back in May of this year,” she said, “when the Victoria Dragonboat Festival Society had their media launch in Victoria. The Society invites various Dragonboat teams to attend the launch and this included the Island Breaststrokers Survivor Team.
“Coca-Cola was sponsoring the festival and had given the society a spot on the Olympic torch relay. In turn, the Festival society chose our team to represent the Dragonboat community.
“We had just won two gold medals in Miami at the second annual World Championships for breast cancer survivors. I was given the honour of running with the torch.”
Because of her work with the Dragonboat races, Tina O’Brien is very athletic. But also adding to that was her 750 kilometre walk across Spain this summer on the Camino of Santiago pilgrimage – this is her second year to do the pilgrimage.
No wonder 300 metres seemed too short to run!
The Olympic Torch Relay experience is still not quite over for O’Brien, with four children and eight grandchildren. She is going into some of the schools for their ‘show and tell’ to let her grandchildren and the other school kids know what an experience it was to be an Olympic Torch Relay runner.
Who knows, maybe some of these children will be inspired to become future Olympians themselves, after they hear about Tina O’Brien’s experience with the 2010 Olympic Games. And it’s only beginning!
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