Visa’s slogan in the run-up to an Olympic Games has long been ‘Go World.’ That sentiment has never been more obvious to former Mercer Islander Steve Penny than during the times when he has carried the Olympic torch.

“It’s actually a really neat feeling,” said Penny, who is president of USA Gymnastics, based in Indianapolis, Ind. “You feel it most when you’re receiving [the torch] and passing it on — you just feel connected to what it’s all about, taking the flame from Greece toward the opening ceremonies, having it in your hand.”

Penny, a 1982 graduate of Mercer Island High School who has a bevy of family members still living on the Island, was offered the chance to carry the torch on Jan. 20 for half a kilometer in Canmore, Alberta, located about 20 miles outside Banff, in the heart of the Canadian Rockies, by Visa, a corporate sponsor of both the Olympics and USA Gymnastics. Canmore is a city of approximately 12,000 people and celebrated the Olympic torch passing on day 83 of its journey.

Penny, who once worked as a tour guide in Banff, said that even though he had a few options of locales to carry the torch, this was his first choice.

“Being able to go back — it was really special to me,” said Penny.

The former Islander said he has long been involved in the Olympic movement in the United States, even carrying the torch prior to the Atlanta Summer Games in 1996. He said that while the experience was a little more meaningful this time around, he would never forget the feeling of being at the 1996 opening ceremonies and watching Muhammad Ali carry the torch into the stadium.

“I’ll never forget the feeling when he lit it. I’ll be at the opening ceremonies [in Vancouver], and I’m really excited to see who lights the torch,” said Penny.

Fourteen years later, Penny ran through downtown Canmore, following Main Street for a time before handing the flame off.

“When you have it in your hand, it feels like you’re in your own parade,” he explained. “You don’t even realize you’re running — everyone is cheering and smiling.”

Penny received the torch from Canadian Josh Epstein and passed it to a woman from Kazakhstan, who was also a guest of Visa’s.

“It was so symbolic of the Olympics,” said Penny. “To have it passed from someone from Canada to the U.S. to Kazakhstan.”

He said torch bearers attend a briefing at the beginning of the day, then join the caravan of people traveling across the country with the torch, sliding into the torch-bearing position when it is their turn. In an e-mail to friends and family prior to the event, Penny said the honor of carrying the Olympic flame was something that he considered to be of great significance.

“To me, the Olympic movement is one of the most powerful unifying forces in the world today,” he wrote. “The spirit of the Olympic Games is captured in its two primary symbols: the Olympic rings and the Olympic flame. The Olympic rings represent the interlocking of the world’s continents, and each color of the rings can be found in the flag of every nation. The Olympics are the one event where mankind comes together in peace, to compete in sport under a vow of fairness and sportsmanship. Olympic athletes are regular people who become heroes for their country and their sport through their commitment and dedication to their passions.”

The countdown to the opening ceremonies, when the Olympic cauldron will be lit in BC Place in downtown Vancouver on Feb. 12, began on Oct. 22, 2009, when the torch left Olympia, Greece, the birthplace of the Olympics.

It arrived and began its journey across Canada on Oct. 30. Over the next 106 days, the torch traveled by land, by sea and by airplane to every province in Canada. The torch made it as far north as Alert, Nunavut, the northernmost permanently inhabited community in the world, via plane in November. During the 2,800-mile journey, the torch was held by 12,000 people.

Follow the Olympic flame in the final days of the relay before the opening ceremonies by visiting www.ctvolympics.ca/torch/follow-torch/index.html.