Torch relay jogs into Winnipeg for final leg of Manitoba journey
The Canada Summer Games torch relay was in Winnipeg Wednesday morning for the final leg of a provincial tour that started a month ago.
The relay started on June 23 in Steinbach, Man., following a torch-lighting ceremony in Ottawa on June 6.
Since then, it's passed through 10 communities around Manitoba and nearby Kenora, Ont., which is hosting the rowing races.
"It's going to be a great experience," said Brad Bouchard before the run. Bouchard was one of nearly 70 torchbearers who ran the Winnipeg leg Wednesday morning. "We've got family and friends coming to watch it."
Bouchard helped win a bronze medal for Manitoba's softball team in the 1989 Canada Summer Games. This year, his daughter Brooke will represent the province in diving.
The father and daughter were both selected as torchbearers for the Winnipeg run.
"We're carrying the torch together. It's almost like I'm passing the torch to her," Bouchard said.
Shyah Coss carried the torch for one leg of the relay. At 13, she was the youngest torchbearer in the event.
"It felt kind of short. Like, I wish it was longer, but it was fun," Coss said.
Coss's mom, dad, sister, aunt, grandfather, grandmother and grandmother's fiancé all came to support her.
"It made me feel really, like, happy and glad to have people cheering me on," she said.
The oldest torchbearer in the relay was Jean Morrison, 95. The mother, grandmother and great-grandmother walked her leg of the relay.
"Some people have said 'Jean, at your age, something could happen when you're walking," she said. "I said, 'What a way to die, carrying the torch.'"
Morrison said sport is important to kids as they grow up. She still swims — her favourite stroke is the breaststroke, she said.
"Mainly I'm here today for the great grandparents, grandparents and the parents," Morrison said at the relay.
She was cheered on by several of her family members.
Other torchbearers included Winnipeg Mayor Brian Bowman and Manitoba Sport, Culture and Heritage Minister Rochelle Squires and "Dancing Gabe" Langlois, who ran the first leg of the relay.
The final leg of the relay started at Memorial Park at 9:30 a.m. and travelled through downtown to The Forks, into the Exchange District and through Winnipeg's city hall. It concluded at the Manitoba Hydro Building at 360 Portage Ave.
The Canada Summer Games run from July 28 to Aug. 13 in Winnipeg.
