By Stefan Swiat, Suns.com
Updated: Feb. 13, 2010
While his fellow NBA All-Stars were in Dallas for their media availability session on Friday, Steve Nash remained in Vancouver to participate in the Opening Ceremonies of the 2010 Winter Olympics. Nash was one of four Canadian athletes chosen to light the Olympic cauldron in a dramatic ceremony seen around the world.
"Can't believe I lit the Olympic flame!" he tweeted from his @The_Real_Nash account on Friday night. "The most moving experience of my life. I've got the Olympic spirit tonite. Off 2 AS weekend in BIG D!"
Whenever you think you have a busy schedule, pause for a second and think about Steve Nash.
The seven-time All-Star played Wednesday night in Phoenix, leaving the locker room around 11 p.m. The next morning, Nash boarded a flight to Vancouver to carry a leg of the Olympic torch, before heading to Dallas for All-Star 2010.
Those are some serious frequent flyer miles.
The native Canadian returned to his home province of British Columbia to carry the torch along 49th Avenue in Vancouver.
Nash, who is producing a documentary on Terry Fox, the one-legged runner with cancer that ran across Canada to raise funds for research on the disease, announced on his Twitter account that he was running the torch "In the name of Terry Fox, Canada's greatest torch bearer!"
According to Keira-Anne Mellis of Fanster, Nash was "decked out from head-to-toe in his official torchbearer uniform (red mittens included)" and "was greeted by excited cheers as the 2010 Vancouver Olympics torch relay made its way along 49th Avenue in Vancouver" on Thursday afternoon.
The Vancouver Sun reported that Nash was "mobbed by kids on a route through Vancouver's west side," saying that "he had no time to get nervous before the run, because he was getting peppered with questions as he stood waiting for the torch's arrival." In addition, the Vancouver Sun went on to report that the crowd was so gigantic Nash was unable to see his family, who had come out to share the moment with him.
"This is like a life experience rather than a sports experience," he told the Vancouver Sun. "This isn't about me. This is about all of us and all Canadians.
"It's amazing for us to be able to host the world and show off our beautiful province. For me, I was just trying to take it all in and not lose any of it, because it was happening so fast."
The torch relay began its trek across Canada in Victoria on October 30 and traveled about 28,000 miles across the country.
The relay will have stopped in every province and territory during its 106-day journey leading up to the lighting of the cauldron at B.C. Place tonight.
"I wish I could be here for the entire games, but I'm looking forward to watching as much as I can on TV. I know it will be very inspiring for me and hopefully the Olympic spirit will rub off on the Suns."
The Olympics will be held from February 12-28 in Vancouver and Whistler, B.C., followed by the Paralympics from March 12-21.
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