'Flame of Inclusion' Torch Ready for Parapans Journey

“This is the Flame of Unity, the same symbol used in the Pan American Games. We’re pleased to have this additional relay to kick off this great event that is the Parapan American Games. The first torch bearer will be Paralympic athlete David Valdez.”

The ‘Flame of Inclusion’ is ready to light up the hearts of all Guadalajara residents ahead of Saturday’s (12 November) Opening Ceremony of the 2011 Parapan American Games.

On Friday the Torch Relay will start at 4pm at Cerro de la Reyna (Queen’s Mountain) in Tonala and be carried 28km by 112 bearers over the next 24 hours through the streets of Tlaquepaque, Guadalajara and Zapopan before it reaches the Telmex Athletics Stadium, the venue of the Opening Ceremony.

The official announcement was made by the Marketing Director of the Guadalajara 2011 Parapan American Games Organizing Committee, Horacio de la Vega who said: “A total of 112 people will have the honour of carrying the Torch. All torch bearers were selected by the participating municipal governments.

“This is the Flame of Unity, the same symbol used in the Pan American Games. We’re pleased to have this additional relay to kick off this great event that is the Parapan American Games. The first torch bearer will be Paralympic athlete David Valdez.”

The Assistant Director of the Guadalajara 2011 Parapan American Games, Jorge Bermejo del Villar, stated that the sporting events are not just for another edition of the Games but that many other things revolve around it.

“The main symbol we are promoting is that of excellence of being, the spirit, represented by the fire and which has a reason for being as a very special symbol that heralds the arrival of a spirit of love, peace, brotherhood, and inclusion. It speaks about everyone becoming one to work as a team and to share the world among all so that we can all be inclusive in everything that we do in life,” remarked Bermejo.

Those in attendance at the press conferences included local municipal sports directors Georgina Contreras de la Torre (Zapopan), Andre Marx Miranda (Guadalajara), Manuel Mateos (Tonala), and Juan Tomas Arreola (Tlaquepaque), in addition to Adriana Rivera, Public Relations Director of the Galerias Shopping Mall.

Marx Miranda pointed out that for the city of Guadalajara, it is a great honour to once again participate in the Torch Relay which will finish the first day in that municipality and will start on 12 November from the Cabañas Cultural Institute. The Flame will spend the night at the institute before the making its way to the Telmex Athletics Stadium for the Opening Ceremony of the Parapan American Games on November 12.

Around 1,500 athletes from 23 countries will participate in 13 sport events at the 2011 Parapan American Games which will last through until 20 November.