Olympic Torch Relay nearly complete

With only two days left until the start of the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, British Columbia, the 106-day, 26,000 km overland Olympic Torch Relay through Canada has nearly come to a close. Back in December, we featured 33 images from the first 44 days of the journey. Today, we bring you highlights from the last 73 days, as torchbearers bring the flame ever closer to its final destination, Vancouver's BC Place, to light the Olympic Cauldron and signal the start of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games on February 12th. (42 photos total)

The Olympic flame is passed between two torches in Arnprior, Ontario on day 45 of the Olympic Torch Relay, December 13, 2009. (© VANOC/COVAN, Luca Bertacchi with IMF)

Former Canadian Olympian Barbara Ann Scott carries the Olympic Torch in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa December 10, 2009. (REUTERS/Chris Wattie) #

The Olympic Torch is pictured in Levis, Quebec, across the St. Lawrence River from Quebec City on December 4, 2009. (REUTERS/Mathieu Belanger) #

Leslie Beck carries the flame through Downtown Toronto, Ontario on Day 49, December 17th, 2009. (© VANOC/COVAN, Lorenzo Negri with IMF) #

Mathew Piccioni passes the flame to Community Cauldron Lighter Ryan Bennett in Brampton, Ontario on December 18th, 2009. (© VANOC/COVAN, Lorenzo Negri with IMF) #

Gordon Singleton lifts the flame before a crowd in front of the falls in Niagara Falls, Ontario on December 20th, 2009. (© VANOC/COVAN, Luca Bertacchi with IMF) #

Torchbearer Sara Bergami reacts, embracing VANOC's Luca Bertacchi after he dropped to one knee and proposed to her on the relay route, in Corunna, Ontario on December 24th, 2009. (© VANOC/COVAN, Gabrielle Beer with IMF) #

Taylor Robertson carries the flame in Wasauksing, Ontario on December 30th, 2009. (© VANOC/COVAN, Luca Bertacchi with IMF) #

Torchbearer Shania Twain lights the cauldron in Timmins, Ontario on January 1st, 2009. (© VANOC/COVAN, Luca Bertacchi with IMF) #

Gunther Wirtz, the Community Torchbearer for Marathon, Ontario, carries the flame past firefighters on January 3rd, 2010. (© VANOC/COVAN, Luca Bertacchi with IMF) #

Danielle Ethier (right) and Orville Smoke exchange flame in Portage la Prairie, Manitoba on January 7th, 2010. (© VANOC/COVAN, Luca Bertacchi with IMF) #

John Nelson carries the flame aboard an old model tractor in Neepawa, Manitoba on January 8th, 2010. (© VANOC/COVAN, Luca Bertacchi with IMF) #

Torchbearer Alexander Miller carries the flame followed by 28 horse riders in Sioux Valley Dakota, Manitoba on January 9th, 2010. (© VANOC/COVAN, Luca Bertacchi with IMF) #

Flame with view of the Rocky Mountains in Alberta on January 16th, 2010. (© VANOC/COVAN, Luca Bertacchi with IMF) #

Torches meet in front of the World's Largest Dinosaur (center, 86 feet tall, wearing official Vancouver 2010 Olympic mittens) in Drumheller, Alberta on January 16th, 2010. (© VANOC/COVAN, Luca Bertacchi with IMF) #

Nancy Wilson carries the torch through sandstone Hoodoos near Drumheller, Alberta on Day 79 of the relay, January 16th, 2010. (© VANOC/COVAN, Luca Bertacchi with IMF) #

A crew waves to the crowd as the flame travels aboard a handcar on the tracks of CP Rail in Lethbridge, Alberta on January 17th, 2010. (© VANOC/COVAN, Regan Blakesley with IMF) #

Kyle Yoshida carries the flame on the Calgary 1988 Olympic Oval in Alberta on January 19th, 2010. (© VANOC/COVAN, Luca Bertacchi with IMF) #

Torchbearer Tyler MacRae snowboards down the halfpipe with the Olympic flame at Canada Olympic Park, site of the bobsled, luge, and ski jumping events at the 1988 Calgary Olympics, in Calgary, Alberta on Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2010. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Jeff McIntosh) #

Flame Attendants move the flame from the torch back into the lantern in Banff, Alberta on January 21st, 2010. (© VANOC/COVAN, Gabrielle Beer with IMF) #

Ross Bidinger carries the flame over a frozen lake in Windermere, British Columbia on January 22nd, 2010. (© VANOC/COVAN, Luca Bertacchi with IMF) #

Sarah Mulhall swims with the olympic flame at the hot springs pool in Kootenay National Park, British Columbia on January 22nd, 2010. (© VANOC/COVAN, Luca Bertacchi with IMF) #

Anastassia Famina carries the flame with style in Salmo, British Columbia on January 23rd, 2010. (© VANOC/COVAN, Lorenzo Negri with IMF) #

Torchbearer Robert Cable carries the flame in an antique car in West Kelowna, British Columbia, January 25th, 2010. (© VANOC/COVAN, Luca Bertacchi with IMF) #

Stacey Rotheisler carries the flame along the pier in Peachland, British Columbia on January 25th, 2010. (© VANOC/COVAN, Lorenzo Negri with IMF) #

On Day 90 the Flame travels through a rail tunnel in British Columbia. Photo taken January 27th, 2010. (© VANOC/COVAN, Luca Bertacchi with IMF) #

Jamie Lee skates with her torch in Fort St. John, British Columbia on February 1st, 2010. (© VANOC/COVAN, Lorenzo Negri with IMF) #

Don Tite carries the flame aboard a coast garde boat in Bella Bella, British Columbia on February 2nd, 2010 (© VANOC/COVAN, Luca Bertacchi with IMF) #

Collette Child carries the flame in a canoe in Port Hardy, British Columbia on Day 96 of the relay. (© VANOC/COVAN, Luca Bertacchi with IMF) #

First Nations welcome the flame to their community with a traditional dance in Kwakiutl's Long House in British Columbia on February 3rd, 2010. (© VANOC/COVAN, Gabrielle Beer with IMF) #

David Hamilton carries the torch onto a ferry in Saltery Bay, British Columbia on February 4th, 2010 (© VANOC/COVAN, Luca Bertacchi with IMF) #

A passenger photographs the Olympic flame aboard a ferry as it arrives in Horseshoe Bay, British Columbia on Thursday, Feb. 4, 2010. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Jonathan Hayward) #

Torchbearer Kristen McBride is cheered on by thousands of spectators during a community celebration in Squamish, British Columbia, Canada on Thursday, Feb. 4, 2010. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Jonathan Hayward) #

Jocelyn Pettit watches the Olympic Flame in Furry Creek, British Columbia on February 4th, 2010. (© VANOC/COVAN, Luca Bertacchi with IMF) #

Olympic torch runner John Stibbard, the Vice President of Operations and son of the owner of the Capilano Suspension Bridge poses for photographs on the bridge after earlier in the day completing his leg of the Olympic torch run through Squamish in British Columbia on Friday, Feb. 5, 2010. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham) #

Rob Drygas carries the flame while pole climbing in Squamish, British Columbia on February 5th, 2010. (© VANOC/COVAN, Lorenzo Negri with IMF) #

Elaine Lui passes the flame to Julia Murray, anboard a snow machine, on February 5th, 2010, in Whistler, British Columbia (© VANOC/COVAN, Luca Bertacchi with IMF) #

Torchbearer and former World Cup and Olympic downhill ski racer Steve Podborski skis the Olympic Flame into Whistler, British Columbia, Canada on Friday, Feb. 5, 2010. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Jonathan Hayward) #

Jarnail Sahota carries the torch across a bridge in Ashcroft, British Columbia on Day 100 of the relay, February 6th, 2010. (© VANOC/COVAN, Luca Bertacchi with IMF) #

Torchbearer Damon Jones carries the Olympic flame through heavy fog before dawn in White Rock, British Columbia on Tuesday Feb. 9, 2010. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Darryl Dyck) #

Tracks created during an early figure skating practice session of the Czech Republic's Michal Brezina are seen in an Olympic arena in Vancouver, British Columbia on Sunday, Feb. 7, 2010. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong) #

Searchlights shine brightly in Vancouver's night sky on February 9th, 2010 as part of an interactive art installation called "Vectorial Elevation." (© Maurice Li) #

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