For four minutes on an icy Tuesday morning, Tova Silverman turned into a celebrity.
Tova Silverman, 21, was one of some dozen torch bearers in Blue Mountain, Ont., on Dec. 29.
For four minutes on an icy Tuesday morning, Tova Silverman turned into a celebrity.
Tova Silverman, 21, was one of some dozen torch bearers in Blue Mountain, Ont., on Dec. 29.
Dressed in a white uniform and clutching an official Olympic torch in Blue Mountain, Ont., on Dec. 29, the 21-year-old student met her fans.
“The crowds started growing and growing and growing. I couldn’t believe it. It was 8:45 a.m… Tons of parents, kids and grandkids were lining the streets. It was a piece of highway that wasn’t important until that morning,” said Silverman, who was one of some 6,000 people who will or have represented Coca-Cola in the Olympic Torch Relay.
Silverman spent months preparing for her turn as torch bearer. Maybe even years.
As a child, she would turn her toys into a make-shift torch and carry it around the house, from the top of the stairs to the mantel piece, where she participated in her own Olympic medal ceremony.
“Growing up, the TV was on the whole time [during Olympic games]. No matter what time zone we were in, we were always watching the Olympics,” said Silverman, an Ottawa native who is currently majoring in world religions at McGill University.
“[It’s] just an exciting time that brings people together.”
Some of Silverman’s favourite Olympic sports to watch include luge and ski jumping. But, for the torch bearer, the Olympics are about more than just athletics.
“I think it’s a great way for people to join together in peace,” she said.
When Silverman found out that the Winter Olympics would be held in Vancouver this winter, she wanted to be involved. As a student, she couldn’t afford to take the month off that was required for Olympic volunteers. Last summer, she heard about a torch bearer contest run through Coke’s website.
“I got wind of a contest from a friend,” she said. “I entered… in the middle of the summer and have been thinking about it ever since.”
Silverman had to answer a skill-testing question and write a short essay on being environmentally friendly. She was working as a unit head at Camp Ramah in August when she heard from the contest organizers.
“Lo and behold, I got an e-mail that I had won a spot,” she said. “I screamed a lot. I got yelled at in the camp office for being too loud.”
Silverman isn’t just an Olympic fan. She enjoys jogging and running, and is involved in her Jewish community in Ottawa.
“It’s about giving back. It’s a place where I grew up in… It’s a place that really helped shape who I am,” said Silverman, who worked with United Synagogue Youth and Hillel at McGill.
When preparing for the torch relay, Silverman began absorbing as many facts as she could.
“I knew every fact, I knew where the torch was going, what its roots were, how it came from Greece, everything about the torch uniform,” she said. “It became the thing that people knew about me. I became almost a hub of information.”
About a month ago, Silverman received her torch bearer uniform in the mail. It was white, with a splash of blue and green on the arm that represented the Sea to Sky Corridor between Vancouver and Whistler during the winter.
But perhaps the most striking part were the red mittens.
“They are supposed to represent the mittens that every child wears when they’re… enjoying Canadian winter,” she said.
On the morning of Dec. 29, she pulled on the white suit and pants, put on her white toque and slipped on the mittens.
“I couldn’t believe the day was actually here,” she said. “It was cloudy and the snow was blowing a little bit, and it was really, really cold. But that didn’t seem to matter. I didn’t feel cold when I was out there.”
The torch was white, about three feet tall and 3-1/2 pounds. It was heavier than she thought it would be.
“They lit a wick… and then lit my torch and suddenly this whole torch in front of me blew up,” she said.
When thinking back on her four minutes of fame, Silverman remembers the crowd, with their Canadian flags and cowbells.
“Everyone had a camera out. Everyone was cheering. You could feel the excitement in the air,” she said. “Tons of kids asked to touch [the torch]… I just felt this connection with them immediately. It wasn’t about me. It was about spreading the pride that comes with the flame.”
For Silverman, the torch relay was about connecting with her country.
“When the torch was lit, it was inspiring. It was this flame that had been passed around the entire country, originating in Greece. It was suddenly there in front of me. I felt like I was part of something. Part of a world event,” she said.
“I was the only person in the world that was carrying the torch at the moment. When I passed it on, I saw another person’s face light up. It was just this continuation.”
