Reply #4: what I read someplace

[iverglas]

Coca Cola. In order to market the games effectively in the US -- i.e. make its sponsorhip pay properly -- it insisted on having US figures involved in the relay.

... Yeah:

http://www.thepost.on.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=2251988

It seemed a little odd that a person from Boston -a sales executive with the Serta (which appears to be associated with Sleep Country, one of the authorized suppliers to the Games) -would get the chance to run with the torch in Collingwood. Or that the Chicago-based president of Wrigley (another "authorized supplier" to the games), Dushan Petrovich, got to carry the torch during the Toronto-to-Brampton leg.

As the torch wended its way through Ottawa, six RBC employees from the States had the honour of holding the flame for their 300-metre legs.

... And of course, the Vancouver Olympic Committee, which allocated torchbearer spots to its 60-plus sponsors and suppliers. Yes, as a news release on VANOC's website states, those sponsors may be "critical to the success of the relay and the 2010 Games," but at the same time it reinforces the notion that one can, quite literally, buy their way into the relay.