Torch extinguished a dozen times

By Damian Inwood, Vancouver Province,November 24, 2009
http://www.theprovince.com/sports/2010wintergames/torch-run/Cold+windy+w...

VANCOUVER — The Vancouver 2010 Olympic flame has been extinguished a dozen times so far due to cold, windy weather, said torch relay officials.

But while 2010 relay boss Jim Richards said he plans to discuss "solutions" when the torch reaches Fredericton, N.B., Wednesday, Bombardier's top engineer said Tuesday there are no plans to re-design it.

"The torch itself has gone out maybe a dozen times but, as you know, we've always got the backup flame in the security vehicle," said Richards, on the phone from Moncton, N.B. "We are meeting Bombardier in Fredericton to do some more work and improve things, so that we don't have it go out again."

On Nov. 9 on the barren tundra near Resolute Bay, Nunavut, the torch wouldn't light at all, Richards said.

"We were at -37 C, with 60 km/h winds," said Richards. "It was just brutally cold. The wind and conditions were such that we couldn't get the torch warmed up that morning so we ran the lantern until we got into the town of Resolute, where there was a bit more of a windbreak."

Richards said the weather hasn't been a problem recently and the relay has been basking in the Maritimes.

He said that in cold weather, the torch's burner system needs time to warm up in order to light.

If it goes out, there are four backup lanterns, lit in Olympia, Greece, that are available to re-light it.

"You come out, the torch is a little bit cold, you light it up and you start running, you're in the wind and it hasn't had the time to prime itself," he said.

"We're working on it with Bombardier. They're aware of it and they're coming up with some solutions."

But Bruno Comtois, Bombardier's chief engineer for the Olympic torch, said the company has no plans to make changes.

"It would be real difficult because we have more than half the torches manufactured," he said. "Re-designing any part of the unit would be quite difficult."

He said the torch has been engineered to work at temperatures down to -40 C and winds up to 50 km/h.

"On the 3,000 torches, we have had really few mishaps, so there's no need to change anything."

Comtois insisted that Vancouver Olympic officials are "quite happy" with the performance of the torch.