In the eyes of Mike Sveinson and his tens of thousands of friends, it would be a fitting gesture to one of Canada's greatest heroes.

Members of a Facebook group - more than 114,000 and counting as of Monday - would love to see Betty Fox, mother of the late Terry Fox, light the cauldron to open the 2010 Vancouver Olympics.

The group is easily the most popular of several online campaigns dedicated to the final torchbearer who will ignite the flame during the opening ceremony at B.C. Place Stadium on Feb. 12.

There are Facebook groups supporting Terry Fox's friend Doug Alward, along with "Man in Motion'' Rick Hansen, hockey legend Wayne Gretzky, retired Vancouver Canucks captain Trevor Linden and even rocker Gord Downie of The Tragically Hip.

"It's kind of a neat thing,'' Terry's brother Fred Fox said in a recent phone interview. "We just see it as a way of Canadians wanting to acknowledge Terry and honour him, and we think it's fantastic. It's a recognition of Terry and his legacy and how Canadians still hold him close.''

Whether it was legendary boxer Muhammed Ali at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, the entire 1980 U.S. men's hockey team at Salt Lake City in 2002, or aboriginal sprinter Cathy Freeman at the Sydney Games in 2000, the lighting of the cauldron is one of the enduring images of any Olympics.

It's also a moment that unites the country, said John Furlong, the CEO of the Vancouver Olympic organizing committee. And the identity of the final torchbearer is a closely guarded secret, known only to a small group of officials.

"The lighting of the cauldron at the end of the ceremony will be Canada's ultimate wow moment,'' Furlong said in a statement. "As it nears its final destination, we want everyone to share the pride and surprise of the moment and as the identity of the final torchbearer is revealed.''

Sveinson remains hopeful that person will be Betty Fox. He feels the honour would be a symbolic conclusion to the cross-country trek her son was never able to finish.

Terry Fox, who grew up in Port Coquitlam, B.C., was diagnosed with bone cancer when he was 18 and had his right leg amputated above the knee.

Three years later, in 1980, he embarked on his Marathon of Hope across Canada to raise money for cancer research. He was forced to stop after 143 days, just outside Thunder Bay, when the cancer spread to his lungs. He died the next year, at age 22.

Sveinson, from Thunder Bay, Josh Trager of Montreal and Trev Fisher and Lisa Freeman Evans of Vancouver, administer the ``Terry Fox's mother to light the flame at the 2010 Olympics'' group, which has been growing like a prairie grass fire since its inception several months ago.

"It's such an obvious idea,'' the 33-year-old Sveinson said. "Cancer affects us all, and when it comes to cancer in Canada, all roads lead to Terry Fox.''

Sveinson said between the ages of 30 and 31, he discovered a tumour on his spine and his father was diagnosed with cancer. His mother died of cancer on his 31st birthday.

"The torch is coming across Canada and for it to make it to Vancouver, which is where Terry was going to finish, and for his mother to light it on a world stage, that's symbolic of the Marathon of Hope being completed,'' said Sveinson, who's targeting 250,000 Facebook members by the time the Games open. "It's such an overwhelming story.''

Ian Bell thinks so too. Bell started the "Nominate Doug Alward to Light the Olympic Flame Group,'' dedicated to Fox's good friend who drove the van in the Marathon of Hope.

"I'm a guy that likes unsung heroes and I think (Alward) is sort of the poster child for people that shed the limelight but have a big impact through their actions,'' said Bell, who like Fox, attended Simon Fraser University.

Bell, whose group has approximately 550 members, has never met Alward, but said he's inspired by his story.

"I just wanted people to understand what this contribution's like, I think it's allegorical to what happens to all of us as we go through athletics,'' Bell said. "We learn from our coaches, we learn from the people who contribute to our success. Every athlete has a coach, every athlete has a trainer, there's a lot of people that go to work every day trying to make these people successful.''

Alward, who has steered clear of the spotlight since Fox's death, said he was flattered so many people wanted to nominate him to light the Flame, but he didn't feel he deserved the honour.

"I have met many more kids and adults suffering with cancer and often dying of the disease who are far more worthy than me,'' Alward said in an email to The Canadian Press. "Cancer is the only reason I would be considered and all I did in relation to that was sit on my ass in a van and hand out oranges and water to Terry Fox every mile. That is certainly not heroic.''

Fred Fox hadn't heard of the Alward Facebook group, but liked the idea of his brother's friend being honoured.

"Doug played a huge part in Terry's story,'' Fox said. "He put his life on hold for several months to be a part of it, and without a friend like that, who knows if Terry would have ever set off in the beginning. I think that's cool.''

Like Bell, Dean Gilbert has never met his hero. Gilbert, from Kelowna, B.C., administers the "Call for Rick Hansen to light the 2010 Olympics Torch'' Facebook group that has just over 3,000 members, and said he began the group in response to the Betty Fox group.

"Mostly I was hoping for a friendly rivalry with the other group,'' Gilbert said. "I don't have any expectations of actually being able to influence the committee's decision on who will actually light the torch, but to me this one's a no-brainer.''

Hansen, who logged more than 40,000 kilometres through 34 countries on his Man in Motion tour to raise money for spinal cord research in the '80s, said he was flattered by the online campaign.

"I'm honoured to be recognized among so many other worthy candidates who are doing amazing things in our country,'' Hansen said in an email.

There are several different groups campaigning for Linden to light the Olympic cauldron - the largest has about 300 members - while the Downie group had 84 members as of Wednesday.

One member posted on the Downie wall: "Gord needs to light errr! Whooo!''

Fred Fox believes the Vancouver opening ceremonies will recognize his brother in some fashion, along with other famous Canadians.

Fred scoffs at suggestions that his mom, who is in her 70s and suffers from arthritis, wouldn't be physically capable of completing the final leg of the torch relay.

"Physically she's not sure if she would be able to run, but I don't know if that's a necessity either,'' Fred said. "She definitely could do it for sure.''

As for the Vancouver Olympics being a symbolic ending to Terry Fox's cross-country trek, Fred said his brother's journey will never end.

"It's just one of those things that Terry never wanted,'' Fox said. "That's the way we were brought up, if you start something, you finish it yourself. Terry always believed when he left Thunder Bay that, if there was any way at all that he could get out there and finish it, he was going to, and when he realized his health wasn't going to get better, he publicly said he didn't want anybody else to finish it for him.

"That's why we do the Terry Fox Run every year. Until a cure for cancer is found, the run won't be done.''