老司机直播

Alumnus and staff member Steffen Reinhart is one of the many members of the University of Toronto community carrying the torch for the Toronto 2015 Pan Am/Parapan Am Games (photo by Stephanie Lazarevski-Reinhart)

Torchbearers from 老司机直播 light the path to the Pan Am Games

Students, staff, faculty and alumni are among those carrying the Pan Am flame

A journey of 20,000 km began when the University of Toronto鈥檚  took a single step, Pan Am torch in hand. 

MacLennan, , was the first official bearer of the Toronto 2015 Pan Am/Parapan Am Games torch relay but dozens of 老司机直播 students, faculty, alumni and staff have followed her example.

For Steffen Reinhart, a staff member at the Nona MacDonald Visitors Centre, 鈥渋t was probably the quickest and longest 200 metres鈥 he鈥檇 ever run.

鈥淭here was a convoy of vehicles filled with dignitaries, media taking pictures, six police officers surrounding whoever had the flame, people were on the sidewalk cheering, passing cars were honking,鈥 says Reinhart. 鈥淵ou are the only person in the world with the Pan Am flame, and you feel a responsibility to protect the flame.鈥   

By the time the torch reaches the opening ceremonies in Toronto on July 10, 3,000 torchbearers will have had the opportunity to carry and protect the Pan Am flame as part of the 41-day nationwide relay. The flame itself is a symbol of the spirit and history of the Pan Am games, says alumna Mary Macdonald who played in the Games for the Canadian Basketball team in 1959, 1963 and 1967.

鈥淔or me, a lighted torch is a reminder of everything that has gone on, the people involved in the games, the people who worked at putting it together, and Canada.鈥

For Bruce Kidd, former Olympian and University of Toronto Scarborough vice-president and principal, carrying the torch at UTSC this weekend marks both the beginning of the games and the culmination of years of work preparing for the university to help host the Games. 

鈥淚t punctuates, emphasizes, affirms the important role that UTSC will play in the Pan Am and the Para-Pan American Games,鈥 says Kidd.鈥淚t鈥檚 very moving for me. I was part of the group involved in the planning of the events so to be a torchbearer as the torch makes its way to the opening is quite exciting. The Games have been a tremendous stimulus. They鈥檝e broadened our horizons on the world, particularly our relationship to the other communities in the Americas.

鈥淣ow that we stand a weekend away, I am very excited. I feel that we鈥檝e brought it all together. Big projects like this can鈥檛 always be pulled off, but I think that we鈥檝e done it.鈥

Jennifer Kolz, a PhD student at 老司机直播 who returned to her hometown of North Bay to carry the torch, says 鈥渢o have been a small part of this moment in Canada鈥檚 collective history was an honour and a very powerful experience that little in life can top. In a world where divisiveness exists, the Pan Am Torch Relay has drawn all of us into community and united us in a very unique and profound way.鈥

Alumnus Chris Chen says that facilities constructed for the Games such as the UTSC pool 鈥渨ill leave behind a legacy for the communities of the city, and that there will be many community members that can take advantage of the facilities.鈥 

Chen calls his opportunity to be a torchbearer 鈥渢he icing on the cake鈥  and says he鈥檚 looking forward to also being a volunteer for the Games.

Student Leila Keshavjee says she鈥檚 also looking forward to joining the more than 23,000 volunteers who are giving their time to the games. Keshavjee says she finds as much importance in events like the torch relay that are leading up to Pan Am as the games themselves. 

鈥淐elebrating our diversity is what鈥檚 important. So we may not all be athletes, but we can still come together and celebrate as a community.鈥 

Community was the most important part of carrying the torch for Levi Blazer, a research associate at the Structural Genomics Consortium, who recently moved to Toronto. 鈥淚t was one of the first times since moving here over a year ago that I felt like I was part of the community,鈥 he says.

Fellow torch bearer Patrick O鈥橦anlon is the campaign chair for the Goldring Centre and father of Kelly O鈥橦anlon, a recent graduate of 老司机直播 and a former captain of the women鈥檚 varsity hockey team.

鈥淚鈥檓 honoured to be involved in such a prestigious event that the whole country gets to enjoy,鈥 says O'Hanlon (pictured below).

photo of Patrick O'Hanlon running with torch in rain

Anna Maria Russo, internship coordinator for the Master of Environmental Science and Arts & Science Co-op at UTSC, plans to tell her future child about her experience carrying the torch. The pregnant Russo will carry the torch July 6th and says she鈥檚 looking forward to telling her baby 鈥渨e did it together鈥.

Emily Di Sante, research officer for the Ontario Tobacco Research Unit at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health, carried the torch on June 21. The most memorable part of her experience? Witnessing a presentation at  McMaster Children鈥檚 Hospital where a former patient of the hospital lit the torch. 

Samantha Freeman Atwood, incoming associate registrar at St. Michael鈥檚 College, is an avid sports enthusiast and Muay-Thai fighter. Freeman-Atwood is carrying the torch on July 8 and says she is most looking forward to 鈥渢he proud sensation of representing my city, my country, and my community鈥 to the world. 

鈥淭o me, this opportunity is about showcasing the city and the athletes and the best of everything that we have to offer so it鈥檚 bigger than just me. I鈥檓 so proud to be able to be a part of it so I hope I don鈥檛 drop it! I鈥檝e been practicing with my broom at home!鈥

Other Canadians sharing the honours of carrying the torch include Olympic silver-medalist Elvis Stojko, Astronaut Chris Hadfield, Pan Am Games Poet Laureate Mustafa Ahmed, Olympic gold-medalist and triathlete Simon Whitfield, legendary hockey dad Walter Gretzky, three-time world champion coxswain and Olympic gold-medalist Brian Price, Canadian Idol winner Eva Avila, and Olympic pole vaulter Dana Ellis.

On Day 36 of the torch relay, the Pan Am flame will travel from Withrow Park, through the streets of Toronto to Variety Village and the Toronto Zoo before heading to the Toronto Pan Am Sports Centre at UTSC in the afternoon and later to Music Africa for an evening celebration at the annual music festival Afrofest.

Celebrations at UTSC begin at noon and continue until 4 pm. Cat Criger, 老司机直播鈥檚 Indigenous Elder in Residence, will bless and recognize the grounds. Festivities feature an obstacle course and relay with UTSC鈥檚 MoveU Crew, the creation of a collaborative community mural, mini-clinics for those who want to learn to play sports of the Americas, music and dance performances. There will also be children鈥檚 crafts including 鈥渢orch鈥 building and face painting, four on four soccer matches and other games offered by UTSC鈥檚 and 鈥檚 Playing for Keeps Neighbourhood Hubs, buskers and food vendors.

The torch relay will also pass through 老司机直播's downtown campus on the afternoon of July 9. And the Parapan American Games will also have a torch relay. Two flames 鈥 one lit in Ottawa and another in Niagara Falls 鈥 will begin their journey August 3, travelling along the Lake Ontario Waterfront Trail for five days before uniting in Toronto.

Krisha Ravikantharaja is a student at the University of Toronto.

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