VICTORIA, Oct. 30 /CNW/ -- The Vancouver 2010 Olympic Torch Relay is officially underway with medal-winning Olympians Simon Whitfield and Catriona Le May Doan revealed today as the first torchbearers to hold the Olympic Flame aloft on Canadian soil at the start of the historic 106-day journey.

They were quickly joined in their torch bearing duties by fellow Canadian Olympic medallists, rower Silken Laumann and diver Alexandre Despatie as the flame set out on Day 1 of its odyssey across Canada.

Each pair jointly held the flame as they jogged through the crowds on the grounds and nearby streets of the British Columbia Parliament Buildings in Victoria, BC, where a public welcoming ceremony was held for the arrival of the Olympic Flame from Greece.

Whitfield, a triathlon star and hometown hero in Victoria, won the first ever gold medal in triathlon at the Sydney 2000 Games and silver at the Beijing 2008 Games, while speed skater Le May Doan is the only Canadian to ever repeat as a gold medallist in two consecutive Olympic Games. Victoria rower Laumann has medalled at three Olympic Games including a courageous bronze in 1992 following a serious injury, while Despatie is a two-time medallist and the first Canadian man to win an Olympic diving medal.

The four athletes, chosen as role models who have inspired the nation, embody the Olympic Spirit and continue to make Canadians proud as they strive for excellence both on and off the field of play.

Upon the relay's conclusion on February 12, 2010 with the start of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games, the flame will have burned brightly in over 1,030 Canadian communities and reached within 900 kilometres of the North Pole.

"The flame embodies the Olympic ideals of excellence, friendship and respect. These values resonate deeply with all Canadians," said Stephen Harper, Prime Minister of Canada, as he welcomed the flame at the public ceremony in downtown Victoria.

"The Olympic Flame will be travelling across Canada on the longest torch relay within a single country in Olympic history. With nearly 200 communities across Canada participating in local celebrations, this is a chance for Canadians from all parts of our great nation to share in the excitement as we count down to the Games' opening day."

With the glow of the Olympic Flame guiding their way, a ceremonial party of First Nations chiefs paddled across the waters of Victoria's Inner Harbour this morning towards the public welcoming ceremony cradling the flame from the dramatic jutting bow of a traditional canoe.

On shore, onlookers waved Canadian flags as they lined the harbourfront and sweeping green lawns of the British Columbia Parliament Buildings craning for their first look at the flame.

Traditionally painted with a Salish sea wolf on the blade-like bow, the Four Host First Nations canoe carrying the flame - a 13.5-metre ocean-going craft hand-carved from a single towering West Coast red cedar - was flanked on the historic voyage by two other canoes manned by representatives of the local First Nations who sang traditional songs.

Before docking, the Lil'wat, Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh chiefs asked permission to come ashore and passed the Olympic Flame, protected in a miner's lantern, to fellow leaders of the Songhees and Esquimalt nations upon whose traditional territories the Parliament Buildings stand. After a brief ceremony conducted in accordance with Salish protocols, the chiefly procession then carried the flame to a stage setup on the grounds for the start of the welcoming ceremony, accompanied by Aboriginal flame attendants Dina Ouellette and Aronhiaies Herne.

In a tribute to Jack Poole during the ceremony, the crowd bowed their heads in a moment of silence. The chairman of the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games' (VANOC) board of directors passed away last week just hours after the flame was lit by the sun in Olympia, Greece.

To honour his memory, Poole's wife, Darlene, ignited a small torch with the Olympic Flame and set the 1.2-metre community celebration cauldron ablaze on stage. This same cauldron will be lit in nearly 200 celebration communities across Canada as part of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Torch Relay.

"What a magical moment," said John Furlong, VANOC's Chief Executive Officer. "We are embarking on an odyssey that we hope will shine a bright light on the people and places of Canada, starting right here in Victoria.