POSTED: Wednesday May 6th 2009
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

ONLY ONE WEEK REMAINS TO ENTER RBC’S CANADIAN OLYMPIC SCHOOL PROGRAM TEAM TORCHBEARER CONTEST

Deadline to submit a team pledge is May 12, 2009

TORONTO, May 6, 2009 – Students aged 13 and over have only one week left to make a pledge through the RBC Vancouver 2010 Olympic Torch Relay School Team Torchbearer Contest for a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to carry the Olympic Flame as it makes its way across the country.

RBC is encouraging Canadians to create a better Canada by pledging to do something big or small in their daily lives to make Canada a better place to live. In keeping with the spirit of RBC’s Carry the Torch contest, teachers, coaches and school leaders are encouraged to work with their students to submit a team pledge through the Canadian Olympic School Program (COSP). Teams are invited to chronicle how they are going to improve their community, be more environmentally-friendly, or live healthier lifestyles.  

By making a pledge before May 12, students will automatically be entered into the RBC Vancouver 2010 Olympic Torch Relay School Team Torchbearer Contest for a chance to earn a team torchbearer spot. RBC and COSP will review the pledges and award 16 teams of 20 students and teachers with the opportunity to carry the Olympic Flame for one kilometre during a leg of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Torch Relay.

Interested teachers and school leaders are encouraged to visit www.olympicschool.ca/torchrelay to learn more about this exciting program and the opportunity to be an Olympic Torchbearer. Winners of the team torchbearer spots will be contacted in June.

Teachers and students can enter in three easy steps:

1. Download contest details at www.olympicschool.ca/torchrelay

2. Create a class pledge to improve their community, become more environmentally sustainable or live a healthier lifestyle.

3. Submit their entry on-line. Briefly describe their pledge in words, pictures or a video.

The 2010 Olympic Torch Relay will begin its journey to Vancouver on October 30, 2009, when the flame arrives in Victoria, British Columbia following the traditional lighting ceremony in Olympia, Greece. The Olympic Flame will then travel from coast to coast to coast through every province and territory in Canada – spanning 45,000 kilometres, 1,020 communities, over 106 days. It will end at B.C. Place on February 12, 2010, with the lighting of the Olympic Cauldron, signaling the start of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games.

About RBC and the Olympic Games

Through its longstanding Olympic involvement, RBC is committed to helping create a better Canada. RBC sponsors amateur sport, from grassroots programs in local communities to national sport associations that support the development of amateur athletes who compete at home and abroad. As Canada’s longest-standing supporter of the Canadian Olympic Team, since 1947, RBC continues its sponsorship through the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games and is proud to bring the Olympic Spirit to communities across Canada as co-presenting sponsor of the 2010 Olympic Torch Relay. RBC is also a Premier Sponsor of Hockey Canada, the Canadian Snowboard Team, the Canadian Freestyle Ski Team, Athletics Canada and the Canadian Paralympic Committee. Visit www.rbc.com/sponsorship.

About the Canadian Olympic CommitteeThe Canadian Olympic Committee is a national, private, not-for-profit organization committed to sport excellence.  It is responsible for all aspects of Canada’s involvement in the Olympic Movement, including Canada’s participation in the Olympic and Pan American Games and a wide variety of programs that promote the Olympic Movement in Canada through cultural and educational means. For more information, see the COC website: www.olympic.ca.

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Please find attached a photo of the contest launch (credit: Salvatore Sacco/CP/COC). This is from our program launch where Grade 12 Toronto students Manar al-Assi, Farhiya Elmi and Timisia Lavia (red, left to right) met athletes Kimberly Ribble-Orr, Cheryl Pounder and Fatih Stanley (blue, left to right) and the official Vancouver 2010 Olympic Torch.

For further information contact:

Steve Keogh                                                              

Director, Communications                                         Canadian Olympic Committee                                  

Phone: (416) 324-4146                                              

Cell: (416) 806-3949                                                  

Email: skeogh@olympic.ca                                       

Jackie Braden

Media Relations

RBC

Phone: (416) 974-2121

Email: jackie.braden@rbc.com

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Keywords · Canadian Olympic Committee · VANOC 2010

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Name: Isabelle Hodge
Organization: Canadian Olympic Committee
Email:
Phone: +1. (416) 324-4122
URL: http://www.olympic.ca/EN/index.shtml

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