Winter Olympics - Vancouver 2010
The 2010 Winter Olympics will take place in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The Olympics Games will run from the 12th to the 28th of February 2010 and the Paralympics Games for handicapped athletes will run from the 5th to the 14th of March 2010.
The city of Vancouver was selected to host the Winter Olympics by the vote of the International Olympic Committee in 2003 at the 115th IOC Session in the Czech Republic. This event will be the third hosted by the Canadian country; as it previously hosted the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal and the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary.
After the city was selected it faced several budget problems regarding the construction of the venues which will be used by the athletes; but both the federal and the provincial governments have divided the expenses 50/50. Additionally, other sponsors have agreed to donate funds for the construction project. The estimate of the operational cost of the 2010 Winter Olympics ranges around 1.4 billion Canadian dollars.
As part of the Olympics tradition; the Olympic flag was given to the Vancouver Mayor on February 28, 2006 in the city of Turin, Italy as a symbol of where the next Olympic gathering will be.
Vancouver – Host City
The Canadian city of Vancouver is a major seaport located on the mainland of South Western British Columbia. In several occasions the city has been ranked among the top three most pleasant cities in the world to live in. The mild climate and the proximity to the ocean, mountains, rivers and lakes make the area a popular destination for outdoor activities. Additionally, there are three nearby ski areas; Cypress Mountain, Grouse Mountain, and Mount Seymour for winter entertainment.
Vancouver is a major regional centre for the development of Canadian music. The city's musical contributions include performers of classical, folk and popular music. Also, it is home to museums and galleries. There is no doubt Vancouver is one of the greatest places in the world to host the Winter Olympics.
Important Facts:
- 2010 Winter Olympics logo was unveiled on April 23, 2005 and is named Ilaanaq the Inunnguaq. Ilaanaq is the Inuktitut word for friend.
- On November 28, 2006, the IOC Executive Board at their meeting in Kuwait voted to include skicross in the official program. The Vancouver Olympic Committee (VANOC) subsequently approved the sport to be officially part of the Games program.
- For the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games, the flame will first be lit in Olympia in late 2009. It will then travel from Greece, over the North Pole to Canada's high Arctic and on to the West Coast and Vancouver.
- The three main venues were constructed at a cost of $580 million
- The Games will be attended by some 5,000 athletes and 10,000 media representatives and it is expected to be viewed by 2.3 million spectators.
The Venues
University of British Columbia:
Ice hockey, figure skating, curling and short track speed skating, along with the opening and closing ceremonies, will take place in the City of Vancouver. Ice hockey and the speed skating events will take place in Richmond Olympic Oval.
Cypress Mountain
This location will host snowboarding and freestyle skiing.
Whistler
The remaining disciplines of alpine skiing, biathlon, luge, and skeleton, as well as all the Paralympics events will take place at this location.
Sports
The 2010 Winter Olympics will have 15 different winter sport categories: bobsled, luge, skeleton, ice hockey, figure skating, speed skating, short track speed skating, curling.
Three other sports sorted separately are: Alpine, freestyle and snowboarding.
And finally the four sports classified as Nordic events are: biathlon, cross country skiing, ski jumping and Nordic combined.