Q. What now becomes of the Olympic flame that was extinguished Sunday night during the closing ceremonies?
A. The answer is a little like talking to a teenager: Where did you go? Out. What did you do? Nothing.
During the down time between Olympics, there is no flame. The flame is kindled anew for each Olympics by the intense heat of sunlight focused by a concave mirror, a re-creation of the way the ancients did it.
“O Apollo, divine sun, idea of light” the priestess at Olympia would chant, “you have sent your rays and the sacred torch was lit.”
Some years, as was the case prior to the 1998 Nagano, Japan, winter games, the day the torch it to be lit turns out to be cloudy. That’s why a torch lit by sunlight is kept burning in a clay urn as a back up. On its way to Salt Lake this year, the flame passed through every state except Hawaii, Minnesota and both Dakotas. When it came to Chicago Jan. 4, it attended a dinner at Navy Pier. Between cities, the flame traveled in a Chevy Avalanche truck. When not carried by a runner, the flame was kept aboard the truck in a propane-fueled cauldron.
The Olympic flame is a symbol of purity, of the struggle for perfection and of peace between the peoples of all nations.
Q. I’d be afraid to try ski jumping, but curling looks pretty cool. Is there somewhere around here where I can play?
A. There are a few options for you, according to the Illinois Curling Association (www.curlillinois.org). The Chicago Curling Club, 555 Dundee Rd., Northbrook, 847-564-9877, has matches on a daily basis and is home to a national curling museum that has stones used in the sport dating back to the 1800s. Others listed on the ICA site include: North Shore Curling Club, 1340 Glenview Road, Glenview, 847-724-9762; and Exmoor Curling Club, 700 Vine Street, Highland Park, 847-432-9520. Oak Park and Wilmette have curling clubs that use the facilities at Exmoor; they can be reached at 708-366-8228 and 312-595-1870 respectively.
Q. I want to be the next Jim Shea Jr. Where can I find out more about skeleton?
A. The sport, which got its name in 1892 because the metal sled resembles a skeleton, has only two tracks in this country: Park City, Utah, where the Olympic competition was held; and Lake Placid, site of the 1980 Winter Games, according to Matt Roy, executive director of the U.S. Bobsled and Skeleton Federation (www.usbsf.com/index3.htm).
There are approximately 10 other sites worldwide, in countries such as Germany, France, Switzerland, Austria, and Italy. A course costs $20 to $40 million to build, Roy said. His organization will be traveling the nation this summer to recruit future competitors. The dates haven’t yet been confirmed, but the federation can be reached at 518-523-1842.
Q. How did Torino, Italy, get selected for the 2006 Winter Olympics?
A. Torino, or Turin, beat out several cities in its first candidacy: Sion, Switzerland; Helsinki, Finland; Klagenfurt, Austria; Poprad-Tatry, Slovakia; and Zakopane, Poland. The decision, made in June 1999, came as the International Olympic Committee was trying to extricate itself from a scandal over improper gifts to its members to induce them to choose Salt Lake City as the site of the recent games. At the time, officials from Torino and front-runner Sion said they thought the IOC might have had a message in selecting the underdog, perhaps to show a support of change and reform.
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Torino, incidentally, is home to what is thought to be the funeral shroud of Jesus Christ, which has been on display periodically since 1864. The capital of Piedmont, it has about one million residents, and its history spans about 20 centuries. Its Palazzo Carignano was home to the first Italian Parliament. For more information, point your Web browser to www.torino2006.it/eng/index.asp.
Q. Has Chicago ever put in a bid to host the Olympics?
A. Well, the closest Chicago will come to the Winter Olympics is competitive snow-shoveling, black-ice avoiding and synchronized parking-spot swiping. “We don’t have any of the capabilities to do the Winter Olympics,” said David Kennedy, director of sports development for the Mayor’s Office of Special Events. Even trying to shuttle people to, say, Wisconsin wouldn’t do, he added. In 1997, a group of businessmen headed by retired Zenith Corp. CEO Jerry Pearlman started a bid to bring the 2008 Summer Olympics to Chicago. But the group later abandoned the attempt, and now has it sights on hosting the 2012 games. The upcoming summer games will be in Athens in 2004 and in Beijing in 2008.