The 2010 Winter Olympics, officially the XXI Olympic Winter Games or the 21st Winter Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event held on February 12–28, 2010, in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, with some events held in the resort town of Whistler, British Columbia and in the Vancouver suburbs of Richmond, West Vancouver and the University Endowment Lands. Both the Olympic and Paralympic Games are being organized by the Vancouver Organizing Committee (VANOC). The 2010 Winter Olympics are the third Olympics hosted by Canada, and the first by the province of British Columbia. Previously, Canada was home to the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, Quebec and the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary, Alberta.
Following Olympic tradition, then Vancouver mayor Sam Sullivan received the Olympic flag during the closing ceremony of the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy. The flag was raised on February 28, 2006, in a special ceremony, and was on display at Vancouver City Hall until the Olympic opening ceremony. The event was officially opened by Governor General Michaëlle Jean.[2]
| 2010 Winter Olympics bidding results | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| City | NOC Name | Round 1 | Round 2 | ||
| Vancouver |  Canada | 40 | 56 | ||
| PyeongChang |  South Korea | 51 | 53 | ||
| Salzburg |  Austria | 16 | - | ||
Main article: 2010 Winter Olympics bids
The Canadian Olympic Association chose Vancouver as the Canadian candidate city over Calgary, which sought to re-host the games and Quebec City, which had lost the 2002 Olympic bid in 1995. On the first round of voting on November 21, 1998, Vancouver-Whistler had 26 votes, Quebec City with 25 and Calgary 21. On December 3, 1998, the second and final round of voting occurred between the two leading contenders, which saw Vancouver win with 40 votes compared to Quebec City's 32. The win allowed Vancouver to prepare its bid and begin lobbying efforts internationally.[citation needed]After the bid bribing scandal over the candidacy of the Salt Lake City bid for the 2002 Winter Olympics (which resulted in Quebec City asking for compensation (C$8 million) for its unsuccessful bid),[3] many of the rules of the bidding process were changed in 1999. The IOC created the Evaluation Commission, which was appointed on October 24, 2002. Prior to the bidding for the 2008 Summer Olympics, often host cities would fly members of the IOC to their city where they toured the city and were provided with gifts. The lack of oversight and transparency often led to allegations of money for votes. Afterward, changes brought forth by the IOC bidding rules were tightened, and more focused on technical aspects of candidate cities. The team analysed the candidate city features and provided its input back to the IOC. The bid books from the three candidate cities were submitted in January 2003 and inspections occurred before May 2003, when the final report was submitted.[citation needed]
Vancouver won the bidding process to host the Olympics by a vote of the International Olympic Committee on July 2, 2003, at the 115th IOC Session held in Prague, Czech Republic. The result was announced by IOC President Jacques Rogge.[4] Vancouver faced two other finalists shortlisted that same February: PyeongChang, South Korea, and Salzburg, Austria. Pyeongchang had the most votes of the three cities in the first round of voting, in which Salzburg was eliminated. In the run-off, all but two of the members who had voted for Salzburg voted for Vancouver. It was the closest vote by the IOC since Sydney, Australia beat Beijing for the 2000 Summer Olympics by 2 votes. Vancouver's victory came almost 2 years after Toronto's 2008 Summer Olympic bid was defeated by Beijing in a landslide vote.
The British Columbia government also indicated it would pay for a $600 million upgrade of the Sea-to-Sky Highway to accommodate increased traffic between Vancouver and Whistler.
The Vancouver Olympic Committee (VANOC) spent $16.6 million on upgrading facilities at Cypress Mountain, which hosts the freestyle (aerials, moguls, ski cross) and snowboarding events. The athletes' villages in Whistler and Vancouver are now complete, as are the main media centre in Coal Harbour and its Whistler counterpart.[5]
With the opening in February 2009 of the $40-million Vancouver Olympic/Paralympic Centre at Hillcrest Park which hosts curling, every sports venue for the 2010 games was completed on time and at least one year prior to the games.[6][7]
The opening and closing ceremonies are being held at BC Place Stadium, which received over $150 million in major renovations. Competition venues in Greater Vancouver include the Pacific Coliseum, the Vancouver Olympic/Paralympic Centre, the UBC Winter Sports Centre, the Richmond Olympic Oval and Cypress Mountain. GM Place, home of the NHL's Vancouver Canucks, plays host to ice hockey events, but because corporate sponsorship is not allowed for an Olympic venue, it has been renamed Canada Hockey Place for the duration of the games.[12] Renovations include the removal of advertising from the ice surface and conversion of some seating to accommodate the media.[12] Competition venues in Whistler include the Whistler Blackcomb ski resort, the Whistler Olympic Park and the Whistler Sliding Centre.
The 2010 Winter Games mark the first time that the energy consumption of the Olympic venues are being tracked in real-time and available to the public. Energy data is collected from the metering and building automation systems of nine of the Olympic venues and is being displayed online through the Venue Energy Tracker project.[13]
Main article: 2010 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games mascots
Leo Obstbaum (1969–2009), the late director of design for the 2010 Winter Olympics, oversaw and designed many of the main symbols of the games, including the mascots, medals and the design of the Olympic torches.[14]The 2010 Winter Olympics logo was unveiled on April 23, 2005, and is named Ilanaaq the Inunnguaq. Ilanaaq is the Inuktitut word for friend. The logo is based on the Inukshuk (stone landmark or cairn) built for the Northwest Territories Pavilion at Expo 86 and donated to the City of Vancouver after the event. It is now used as a landmark on English Bay Beach.
The mascots for the 2010 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games were introduced on November 27, 2007.[15] Inspired by traditional First Nations creatures, the mascots include:
Torch relay
Main article: 2010 Winter Olympics torch relay
The Olympic Torch Relay is the transfer of the Olympic flame from Ancient Olympia, Greece — where the first Olympic Games were held thousands of years ago — to the stadium of the city hosting the current Olympic Games. The flame arrives just in time for the Opening Ceremony.For the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games, the flame was lit in Olympia on October 22, 2009.[23] It then traveled from Greece, over the North Pole to Canada's High Arctic and on to the West Coast and Vancouver. The relay started its long Canada journey from the British Columbia capital of Victoria. In Canada, the torch traveled approximately 45,000 kilometers over 106 days, making it the longest relay route within one country in Olympic history. The Olympic Torch was carried by approximately 12,000 Canadians and reached over 1,000 communities.[24][25]
Celebrity torchbearers included Arnold Schwarzenegger,[26] Steve Nash,[27] Matt Lauer,[28] Justin Morneau,[29] Michael Buble,[30] Bob Costas,[31] Shania Twain,[32] and hockey greats including Sidney Crosby,[33] Wayne Gretzky,[34] and the captains of the two Vancouver Canucks teams that went to the Stanley Cup Finals: Trevor Linden (1994)[35] and Stan Smyl (1982).[36]
Participating teams
Medal table
Main article: 2010 Winter Olympics medal table
The top ten listed NOCs at these Games are listed below. The host nation, Canada, is highlighted.Rank  | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  United States (USA) | 7 | 9 | 10 | 26 |
| 2 |  Germany (GER) | 7 | 9 | 7 | 23 |
| 3 |  Norway (NOR) | 6 | 5 | 6 | 17 |
| 4 | Canada (CAN) | 6 | 4 | 1 | 11 |
| 5 |  Switzerland (SUI) | 6 | 0 | 2 | 8 |
| 5 | South Korea (KOR) | 5 | 4 | 1 | 10 |
| 7 | Austria (AUT) | 4 | 3 | 3 | 10 |
| 8 |  Russia (RUS) | 3 | 4 | 6 | 13 |
| 9 |  Sweden (SWE) | 3 | 2 | 2 | 7 |
| 10 |  Netherlands (NED) | 3 | 1 | 2 | 6 |
