British Columbia

Vancouver's Olympic cauldron lights up to mark 2010 Games anniversary

The public is invited to Jack Poole Plaza at the Vancouver Convention Centre for the event, which is scheduled to run from 8:45 a.m. to 11 a.m. PT.

Opening ceremony was held exactly 10 years ago today

The Vancouver 2010 Cauldron is re-lit to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter GamesVancouver, British Columbia on Wednesday, February 12, 2020. (Ben Nelms/CBC)

Vancouver's Olympic cauldron will flame again this morning to mark the 10-year anniversary of the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

The public is invited to Jack Poole Plaza at the Vancouver Convention Centre for the re-lighting ceremony, which is scheduled to run from 8:45 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.

Olympic moguls gold and silver medallist Jennifer Heil and four-time Olympic snowboarder Mercedes Nicoll will help lead the celebrations.

Ten years ago today, the 2010 Winter Olympics kicked off with an opening ceremony at B.C. Place Stadium.

Wayne Gretzky leaves B.C. Place with the Olympic torch to light the cauldron at Jack Poole Plaza as part of the opening ceremonies. (Geoff Howe/The Canadian Press)

Former athletes Wayne Gretzky, Nancy Greene, Steve Nash, Rick Hansen and Catriona Le May Doan were the final torchbearers picked to light the indoor Olympic cauldron at B.C. Place. The moment was marred when one of the four arms of the cauldron failed to lift out of the floor.

In a further twist to the Olympic tradition, Gretzky and his torch were then loaded in a truck and driven through the streets of Vancouver to Jack Poole Plaza where he lit the permanent cauldron.

Onlookers outside the stadium were surprised and amused to see the hockey legend hanging on for dear life in the back of a pickup truck. 

Canadian sports legends Rick Hansen, Wayne Gretzky, Catriona Le May Doan, Steve Nash and Nancy Greene light the cauldron at B.C. Place on Feb. 12, 2010. (Getty Images)