Torch Bearer

With the 2010 Games now only months away debate will certainly rage on for the next few months as to who should light the Olympic Cauldron in Vancouver. Wayne Gretzky - Canada's most recognizable sport figure will certainly be given consideration but having only competed at one Olympic Games (1998) - and never having won an Olympic medal of any color - Gretzky's name should be quickly looked over.

Nancy Greene - an Olympic gold medallist at the 1968 Games in Grenoble - and securely linked to the sport of skiing will be given some thought, however, recognizing her role within the Canadian Senate political interference might prevent her name from being put forward.

There will be other notables of course and each will come with their own merits. However, the name that should be put forward is that of Gaetan Boucher - the man who helped create the foundation of Canada's dominant rise in Winter Olympic Sport.

Prior to Boucher's double gold and bronze medal winning perforamances in the sport of speed skating at the 1984 Games - Canada's performance in Winter Olympic Sport was limited to say the least. At the 1980 Games in Lake Placid - Canada won 2 medals one of which was by Boucher himself - a silver in the 1,000m - the other by Steve Podborski in Downhill Skiing. Canada hadn't won Olympic gold since 1976 (Kathy Kreiner) and no athlete had ever won multiple medals at a Winter Olympiad.

It was Boucher's performance in 1984 that helped spark interest in the sport of speed skating and spurned the start of Canada's next generation of Olympic athletes. Clara Hughes and Kristina Groves - two athletes who are expected to win medals in 2010 cite Boucher as the reason they first tried Speed Skating.

Perhaps it is time we recognized his legacy.