Feb. 12 will mark the fifth anniversary of the opening of the Vancouver Winter Olympics. The four metres bronze sculpture pictured here at the corner of Thurlow and Cordova, not far from the Olympic Cauldron, was a gift from Olympia, Greece to the city of Vancouver to commemorate the 2010 games. It’s a tradition that began with the 1996 centenary of the modern Olympic games. For each Summer and Winter Olympic games, the city of Olympia gifts the host city a sculpture of Nike. Olympia was the ancient site of the Olympic games from the eighth century BCE to the fourth century CE when they were banned by a Christian Roman emperor for being too pagan.

Although Nike was gifted to Vancouver for the 2010 games, it wasn’t installed until February 2014! It did take a while to find an acceptable location but four years seems to say it wasn’t a priority.

The artist is Pavlos Angelos Kougioumtzis, Greek sculptor, painter and architect. He has created similar sculptures of Nike for other Olympics: Atlanta, 1996; Beijing, 2008; London, 2012. It’s a stylized version of the Winged Victory of Samothrace discovered on the Greek island of Samothrace in 1863 and is now displayed at the Louvre in Paris. It is believed to have been created around 200 BCE and is considered a great masterpiece of Hellenistic art. The Hellenistic era is a period of roughly 300 years between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BCE and the rise of the Roman Empire. Greek cultural influence was at its peak in parts of Europe, Asia and Africa. Exploration, the arts, literature, theatre, architecture, music, mathematics, philosophy and science flourished. It was the time of the great Library of Alexandria, the building of the Colossus of Rhodes and the creation of the famous statue, Venus de Milo. Moreover, the kingdoms Greece established in these areas did not try to supplant the native culture but rather the differing cultures enriched each other.

Both the Vancouver and original sculpture of Nike are meant as a symbol of victory. It was said that the goddess Nike flew around battlefields rewarding victors with glory and fame symbolized by a laurel wreath. The Vancouver sculpture is split down the middle and it has been postulated the word Nike might be derived from two words meaning victor and split. The idea is that a victor is split, or stands apart from others, which of course fits nicely with the Olympic Games.

Even Nike sportswear has been inspired by this goddess. They took her name since it represents, especially in their sport shoes, grace, style, speed and victory. Even their swoosh symbol echoes these virtues.

In these days of troubled economic times for Greece, perhaps one day Nike will be able to bestow a symbol of victory there.