Nov 05, 2009 - 05:06 PM

By Brad Kelly

PICKERING -- Nikki Georgiadis is hoping she hasn't used up all her time for Olympic glory.

The 18-year-old from Pickering has just returned from Greece, where she served as the final link for the torch run there before the flame was officially handed off to Canadian officials in anticipation of the Olympic Games in February.

If the 15 minutes of fame line holds true, her involvement in the ceremony lasted about a minute, leaving 14 minutes to her credit. She hopes to cash those in one day while performing in the ice dance competition at the winter Games.

Until that day arrives, she is still cherishing the notoriety of last week's ceremony.

"I was so thrilled. I almost cried on the phone with my mom because she ended up calling me," she says of receiving the good news as she was heading to a competition in Lake Placid. "I couldn't believe it.

"My goal is to compete in the Olympics. I never thought of being part of the Olympics in this way where I ran with the torch and had the honour of being the last torch bearer. That never came into my mind."

Initially, she was designated as one of more than 700 runners to carry the flame through villages and towns as it made its way to Athens. Just a couple of weeks before last Thursday's ceremony, she was informed she would be the last runner.

Born in Canada but of Greek heritage, she was a natural link as the last runner before Canadian officials brought the flame here. An ice dancer with Graham Hockley of Whitby, the duo have been skating under Greece colours for the past couple of years after being extended an invitation to do so.

Despite the celebratory nature of the event, Georgiadis says she was relatively calm prior to the lighting. She attended rehearsal, went back to her room for a nap in anticipation of a long day, then started to get excited when she put the official torch running outfit on.

When she arrived at Panathinaiko Stadium in Athens, things started to change when the flame came into her sightlines.

"I wasn't really nervous at first. It was a swarm of pictures and media and meetings (with dignitaries)," she says of the whirlwind of activity. "So with all that happening from five o'clock until before I had to run, it really didn't hit me until I saw the last torch bearer before me.

"As I'm watching her run so slowly towards me, that's when I started to get goose bumps and the butterflies in my stomach and I started to get a little nervous."

Once her torch was lit, to the time she ignited the altar inside the stadium, took just over a minute. Her torch is destined for a glass display case at the family home.

Now it's "back to reality" she says, with Life Sciences classes to attend at the University of Toronto and more training at the Scarborough Figure Skating Club. She and her partner are first alternates to skate at the February Olympics in Vancouver should a team from another designated country drop out.