 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Vancouver Mayor Sam Sullivan is seen during an interview with during the Turin 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy. (AP Photo)
Vancouver mayor gets set to accept Olympic flagUpdated Fri. Feb. 24 2006 2:21 PM ET CTV.ca News Staff Vancouver Mayor Sam Sullivan will be the first quadriplegic in history to accept the Olympic flag when it is handed over at the closing ceremonies on Sunday. Engineers have designed and built a custom device that will enable Sullivan to fulfill his responsibilities from his wheelchair. Sullivan politely declined suggestions that an assistant could wave the flag for him. "I have always throughout my life believed that we should do whatever we can on our own and as a person with a disability," Sullivan told CTV's Canada AM Friday. Sullivan's motorized wheelchair has been equipped with a custom-made steel holster to hold the six-square-metre flag attached to a five-metre pole. According to Olympic custom, he must wave it eight times. "I worked with a group that I helped start actually, the Tetra Society of North America, where we have volunteer engineers who help disabled people make things. The city engineers and the Tetra volunteers came together and made quite an interesting device that will enable me to take the flag and do it in a somewhat dramatic way," Sullivan said. A customized elevator has also been built within the ceremony stage. Sullivan, 46, was an active skier until a skiing accident at the age of 19 left him a quadriplegic in 1979. He is Canada's first quadriplegic mayor, elected in November. "I never, ever imagined that I would be able to represent my country, my province, and my city," Sullivan said Thursday. During his time in Turin, Sullivan said he has been interviewed by media from around the world, and many are astounded that he has become mayor of Vancouver despite his disability. Those conversations often give Sullivan the opportunity to tout Canada as the perfect host for the 2010 Olympics. "A lot of them are saying 'a quadriplegic as a mayor, that could never happen where we come from.' And I say Canadians are different. They're unlike any other citizens, you know… we have citizens who are very open-minded and progressive and generous and that's the message that I'll be bringing to the world." Sullivan was interviewed by Al Roker of NBC's Today show on Friday. "Every year we are enriched by new people from so many diverse parts of the world," Sullivan told Roker. "When the world does arrive in 2010 for the Olympics and the Paralympics they're going to find the world's already here." B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell was also on the show to give host Al Roker an honourary 2010 Olympic hat with 'Canada' written on it. In keeping with Olympic tradition, Turin Mayor Sergio Chiamparino will return the flag to International Olympic Committee President Jacques Rogge, who will present it to Sullivan. This symbolizes the official beginning of Vancouver's responsibility to host the Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2010. With half a million people expected to be watching, the mayor's been practicing with his new device in Vancouver parking lots in the middle of the night, he said. "People have made strange requests to the police to investigate apparitions that they've seen in the parking lots of Vancouver. It's just me, the mayor," he said. Opera star Ben Heppner will sing the national anthem and rocker Avril Lavigne will be featured during an eight-minute Canadian segment themed "Come Play with Us in 2010." A performing troupe of more than 60 artists and athletes will be included, as well as a unique First Nations ceremony. Sullivan met with Olympic officials in New York and London before arriving in Turin. He will watch next month's Paralympics Games, which runs from March 10 to 19. After he returns to Vancouver, the flag will be on public display at city hall and a replica will be raised outside city hall on Tuesday.
|
CTV.ca Special CoverageIn PicturesMore DetailsVideo
Related StoriesWeb LinksUser Tools |
