Vancouver, British Columbia (CNN) -(Coverage for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, British Columbia begins at 7:30 p.m. ET/PT tonight, February 12th, on NBC.) *The most popular question in Canada recently has been who will light the Olympic caldron at Friday night’s opening ceremonies.

Speculation has focused on NHL legend Wayne Gretzky, but others have campaigned for Betty Fox, the mother of the late Terry Fox, a national hero.

In 1980, Terry Fox, battling osteosarcoma, set out to cross Canada, running about the equivalent of a marathon each day to raise money for cancer research. But Fox, who had a prosthetic right leg, had to quit after 143 days as his cancer spread. He died less than a year later.

The idea of a hologram of Fox carrying the torch the final steps also has been floated.

Hundreds of millions of people are expected to tune in on televisions around the world for the event, which begins at 6 p.m. local time (9 p.m. ET). There will be no worries about the weather; these are the first ceremonies to be held in a domed stadium.

Canada hopes to make a good impression on viewers of the games, which will take place over 17 days.

*Source

Share on Facebook

Tweet This Post