Winter Olympic Games fever arrives in Laval
With the Olympic Flame
Published December 16 , 2009
By Martin C. Barry • TLN

An estimated 9,000 people lined miles of roadways in Laval last week before converging in front of city hall to welcome the Olympic flame. The flame was in Laval on its journey westward across the country for the 2010 Winter Olympics, which open in Vancouver on Feb. 12. According to games organizers it was a record crowd.

Second time in Laval
Arriving at the intersection of Curé Labelle and Cléroux boulevards on Thursday last week around 10:40 a.m., the flame had already made stops in a large number of municipalities all over the Montreal region, and there would be many more in the hours to come. It was the second time Laval had welcomed the Olympic flame. The last time was in 1988 during the Calgary Olympic Games. The flame was carried to the stage by well-known Olympian athlete from Laval, Josée Chouinard.
A figure skater, Chouinard took part in the 1992 Albertville games, as well as the games in Lillehammer in 1994. Thousands lined the sidewalks on Souvenir Boulevard as Chouinard made the final strides to a staging area set up just outside city hall. There she was greeted on stage by Quebec Liberal Education, Sports and Leisure Minister Michelle Courchesne, Laval Executive Committee vice-president and councillor for Chomedey Basile Angelopoulos, and Jocelyne Guertin, also a member of the executive committee.

Chouinard inspires
“One thing that I always knew was that I wanted to become a good skater,” Chouinard told the audience. “I knew that I was going to do certain things, but I never ever thought that I was going to be at the Olympics one day … If you dream, you have everything you need to make it a reality, and it is something you can touch today. So please don’t stop dreaming. Never ever set any limit to your self.” A special ceremony staged for the flame’s arrival around 11:15 a.m. was hosted by Stéphane Bellavance, a well-known actor and host on French language television.
The list of entertainers for the two-and-half-hour show included Gregory Charles, accompanied by the Collège Vocal de Laval. Students with the Sir Wilfrid Laurier School Board recreated the rings of the Olympic emblem, using their tuques which were of different colours. A musical number was performed by students from Laval Liberty High School. Despite the freezing temperature, dancing to the lively music assured that most were able to keep warm.


Former Olympians
A good number of former Olympians from Laval were among the crowd. They include Martine Dugrenier (a wrestler from the 2008 Beijing games); Roseline Filion, Jennifer Abel and Marie-Eve Marleau (diving, Beijing); Sandra Sassine (fencing, Beijing); Jean-Paul Girard (a badminton trainer in Beijing); Patrice Duclos (fencing trainer, Beijing); Christopher Kalec and Philippe Comtois (diving, Athens 2004); Amélie Goulet Nadon (speed skating, Salt Lake City 2002); Madeleine Fillion (fencing, Seoul 1988); Denis Canuel (archery, Seoul 1988); Henri Sassine (fencing trainer in Olympics from 1984 to 2008); and Luigi Giordano, an Olympics official who carried the flame in 1960 in Rome.

Among the thousands who gathered for the arrival of the Olympic flame last week at Laval city hall the enthusiasm was unbounded. More than 4000 SWL school board students participated.