Vancouver Olympics 2010

The Olympics were held in Vancouver, British Columbia beginning on Friday, February 12, and lasted until Sunday, February 28th. Unluckily for the residents, the weather was the warmest Vancouver had seen in about 100 years (and Vancouver was the warmest city that the Winter Olympics were ever held in). Truckloads and helicopter loads of snow were brought in for a month prior to the event. Then, it rained on some of the days. Several events were postponed, beginning with men's downhill skiing. The postponements were good news for Lindsey Vonn, who had been recovering from a recent injury.

All in all, the 2010 Vancouver Olympics were excellent. The Canadians were great hosts. In some events, records were broken. Polish women saw their first gold medal when Justyna Kowalczyk barely beat out Norway's Marit Bjørgen in the 30 km cross country classical event. North America saw it's first ice dancing gold in a sport dominated by Russians. Who could forget Joannie Rochette skating so soon after her mother's death?

For Americans, it was exciting having the Olympics held so close to the border. These are Olympics that weren't as flashy as the 2008 Beijing Olympics, but they were still memorable.

Every nation that wishes to compete has to qualify athletes for the games. So far, the following nations have qualified. It is believed that more than 80 nations will eventually qualify and participate.

Australia
Austria
Bahamas
Belgium
Belarus
Bulgaria
Canada
China
Chinese Taipei

Czech Republic

Greece

Liechtenstein

Senegal

Denmark

India

Moldova

Slovakia

Estonia

Iran

Monaco

Slovenia

Finland

Israel

Mongolia

South Korea

France

Italy

Netherlands

Spain

Gabon

Jamaica

North Korea

Switzerland

Georgia

Japan

Norway

Sweden

Germany

Kazakhstan

Poland

Turkey

Ghana

Latvia

Romania

United States

Great Britain

Lebanon

Russia

Ukraine

The gold, silver, and bronze medals were revealed October 15th at the Olympic village. The Olympic medals feature elements of an orca whale. The paralympic medals were also unveiled. Those are square, with raven's elements.

Jill Bakken, who took the gold with Vonetta Flowers in the two-woman bobsled event in Salt Lake City, along with paralympian Daniel Wesley, who earned medals from five different paralympics between 1988 to 2002, were on hand to model the medals.

The Royal Canadian Mint created the medals.

These are the events that took place in the 2010 Olympics:

• Alpine Skiing
  
• Biathlon
  
• Bobsleigh
  
• Cross-country Skiing
  
• Curling
  
• Figure Skating
  
• Freestyle Skiing
  
• Ice Hockey
  
• Luge
  
• Nordic Combined
  
• Short Track
  
• Skeleton
  
• Ski Jumping
  
• Snowboarding
  
• Speed Skating
  

Photo by Biseth at Wikimedia Commons.

Just hours before the 2010 Vancouver Olympics were to begin, tragedy hit the luge track.

Georgian Nodar Kumaritashvili was sliding down the track in a training run, when his sled spun out of control, he flew over the barrier, and hit a steel pole. He was immediately knocked unconscious, and later died at a nearby hospital in Whistler. Kumaritashvili is only the fourth Olympian to die during the Winter Olympics.

Some called for a cancellation of the luge events, others wanted officials to look into the matter to see if it can be made safer. More information available at The World Competes.

The only events scheduled for Day 1 of the Olympics were the opening ceremonies, which took place at 6 PM Pacific Standard Time (PST), and the Normal Hill Ski Jumping individual trials and qualifications, which started at 9AM PST, earlier on in the day. The opening ceremonies of the Vancouver games didn't try to compete with Beijing's extravaganza; instead, they focused on the cultural aspects of Canada. The Opening Ceremonies were beautiful, for the most part, although there were technical difficulties during the lighting of the Olympic cauldron, with an awkward pause like that which happened during the lighting of the cauldron at the 2000 Sydney games. A more detailed opening ceremonies recap is available.

On day 2 of the Olympics, February 13th, athletes started competing for medals. The men's downhill skiing was postponed until Monday because of fog. The 7.5km women's biathlon sprint occurred, with Anastazia Kuzmina winning the gold for Slovakia. The women's freestyle moguls took place; Jenn Heil was Canada's hope for the first gold ever in a year when they hosted the games, but she came in second. The US's Hannah Kearney skied a nearly flawless performance for the gold, while another American, Shannon Bahrke, won bronze.

Normal hill ski jumping (men only, women ski jumpers failed in their bid for inclusion into this year's Olympics) took place; all three Americans made it past the qualifying run, but they were eliminated after the first run of the day on day 2. Simon Amman won the gold there for Switzerland. In the 5000m men's speed skating race, Sven Kramer won gold for the Netherlands. The US's Chad Hedrick, Shani Davis, and Trevor Marsicano took 11th, 12th, and 14th places, respectively. In the1500m men's short track speed skating finals, Apolo Ohno and J.R. Celski took silver and bronze, while Korea's Lee Jung-Su won gold, after two other Koreans wiped out right before the finish line. Men's luge singles made their first and second runs. Qualifications for the 500m and 3000m women's short-track speed skating took place.

Women's ice hockey teams competed in their first rounds. Sweden beat Switzerland, and Canada beat Slovakia.

On Sunday, February 14th, one of the most popular events of the Winter Olympic games, figure skating, begins. The pair skaters will compete in the short program (4:30 PM PST). The women will compete in super combined downhill skiing, while the men will compete in the 10km sprint in the biathlon. In freestyle skiing, men will compete in moguls. In Nordic combined, the 15km individual competition will take place. Women will compete for the 3000m speed skating medals. Men will make their final luge runs for the medal. Women's hockey continues, with games between the United States and China at noon, and Finland competing against Russia at 4:30 PM PST.

Snowboardcross is a relatively new sport (this is its second Olympics), but it can be exciting to watch. The male snowboardcross competitors will compete for their medals. 500m men's speed skating, ice skating pairs free program, women's 10km individual cross-country skiing, and men's 15 km individual cross-country skiing also occur on day 4. Women's luge will make their first day of runs. Women's ice hockey teams will also compete; today Switzerland will play Canada, and Sweden will play Slovakia.

On Tuesday, February 16th, the men will begin figure skating with the short program. The men's super combined skiing event occurs, along with the women's 10km biathlon pursuit, the men's 12.5km biathlon pursuit, the women's singles luge finals, women's snowboardcross, and 500m women's speed skating. Curling for both men and women begin, with the following matches scheduled: for the men, Great Britain vs. Sweden, Norway vs. Canada, USA vs. Germany, and Switzerland vs. Denmark; women's curling matches include the USA vs. Japan, Denmark vs. Sweden, Germany vs. the Russian Federation, and Canada vs. Switzerland. In men's ice hockey, the United States will play Switzerland, Canada will play Norway, and the Russian Federation will play Latvia. For women's ice hockey, the Russian Federation will play the United States, and Finland will play China.

On Wednesday, February 17th, skiing continues with the women's downhill race. Men and women will both compete for cross-country skiing medals, while luge finishes with the doubles competition. Male snowboarders will compete for the halfpipe medals, and male speed skaters will compete in the 1000m speed skating competition. Women will compete in the 500m short-track speed skating competition. The 1000m and 5000m relay qualifications occur for men's short track speed skating. In women's curling, China competes against Great Britain, Germany plays the United States, Switzerland plays Sweden, Japan plays Canada, the Russian Federation plays Denmark, Great Britain plays Sweden, and China plays Switzerland. In men's curling, Great Britain plays France, the United States plays Switzerland, Denmark plays China, and Germany plays Sweden. In men's hockey, Finland plays Belarus, Sweden plays Germany, and the Czech Republic plays Slovakia. In women's hockey, Canada plays Sweden, and Slovakia plays Switzerland.

On February 18th, the 15km individual women's biathlon, men's 20km individual biathlon, and women's halfpipe competition occurs. In figure skating, the men compete in their free program. Skeleton begins its first day of competition, while the 1000m women's speed skating competition takes place. In men's curling, Denmark plays the United States, Germany plays Norway, Canada plays Sweden, Great Britain plays Switzerland, Sweden plays China, Great Britain plays Denmark, Norway plays Switzerland, and France plays Canada. In women's curling, Canada plays Germany, China plays Japan, the Russian Federation plays Great Britain, and Denmark plays the United States. In men's hockey, the United States plays Norway, Switzerland plays Canada, and Slovakia plays the Russian Federation. In women's hockey, the US will play Finland and China plays the Russian Federation.

On Friday, February 19th, the men compete in the Super G skiing competition, while later, women cross-country skiers compete in their 7.5km pursuit. The ice dancing pairs perform their compulsory dance, and skeleton competitors finish their final runs for the medal. Ski jumpers compete in the qualifications for the large hill individual competition. In men's curling, Germany plays Switzerland, Denmark plays Canada, France plays the United States, and Norway plays China. In women's curling, Germany plays Great Britain, the Russian Federation plays the United States, China plays Denmark, Denmark plays Canada, Sweden plays China, Great Britain plays Japan, and Switzerland plays the Russian Federation. In men's ice hockey, Belarus plays Sweden, the Czech Republic plays Latvia, and Finland plays Germany.

On Saturday, February 20th, Bobsleigh begins, with day 1 of the 2 man competition. The women's Super G takes place, along with the men's 15km pursuit in cross-country skiing. The women qualify for aerials in freestyle skiing, and the large hill individual ski jumping event takes place. Male speed skaters compete in the 1500m competition, while women race for the 1500m short track medals, and men race for the 1000m short track medals. Women's curling continues as Sweden plays the Russian Federation, the United States plays Great Britain, Denmark plays Switzerland, and Germany plays China. In men's curling, Norway plays Denmark, France plays Germany, China plays Great Britain, Sweden plays the United States, Switzerland plays China, Sweden plays France, and Canada plays Great Britain. In men's ice hockey, Norway plays Switzerland, Latvia plays Slovakia, and Germany plays Belarus. Two games of women's ice hockey will determine who makes it to the semifinals.

Vancouver - Harry Jerome Statue by BebeZed
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On Sunday, February 21st, Ski Cross makes its Olympic debut, with the men's qualifications and finals. The women will compete for the 1500m speed skating medals, ice dancers will perform their original dance, and the men compete in the giant slalom. In biathlon, women will compete in the 12.5km mass start, while the men will compete in their 15km mass start. The two man bobsled teams will make their final runs for the medal stand. Women's curling continues, with Great Britain playing Switzerland, Germany playing Denmark, Canada playing the United States, the Russian Federation playing Japan, China playing Canada, Japan playing Germany, and the United States playing Sweden. In men's curling, the United States plays Great Britain, Norway plays Sweden, Switzerland plays Canada, and Denmark plays Germany. In men's ice hockey, the Russian Federation plays the Czech Republic, Canada plays the United States, and Sweden plays Finland.

On Monday, February 22, both the men's and women's team sprints take place in cross country skiing. The ice dancing pairs perform their free dance, and male freestyle skiers qualify for the aerial finals. Ski jumpers perform their large hill team competition. In men's curling, France plays Norway, Canada plays the United States, Germany plays China, Switzerland plays Sweden, Germany plays Great Britain, France plays Denmark, and China plays the United States. In women's curling, the Russian Federation plays China, Japan plays Switzerland, Sweden plays Canada, and Great Britain plays Denmark. Women's ice hockey semifinal games occur at 12 noon, 2 PM, 5 PM, and 7 PM PST. Overall, this is a light day, so you might want to take part of the day to catch up on work, or watch some of the events you missed and recorded on Tivo.

One of the most popular events of the winter Olympics, women's figure skating, begins on Tuesday, February 23, with the short program. Also occurring on this day are the women's 4x6km biathlon relay, the first day of two-woman bobsleigh competition, the large hill 4x5km team competition for Nordic Combined, women's ski cross, and the 10,000m men's speed skating competition. Curling continues; on the men's side, Japan plays Canada, Sweden plays Denmark, Great Britain plays Norway, and Switzerland plays France. Women's curling games include Japan vs Sweden, Switzerland vs Germany, the United States vs China, Canada vs Great Britain, Switzerland vs the United States, Canada vs the Russian Federation, Japan vs. Denmark, and Sweden vs Germany. Men's hockey games will be played at 12 noon, 4:30 PM, 7 PM, and 9 PM PST to determine who will make it to the quarterfinals.

Wednesday, February 24th is a big day for short track speed skating, with the women competing in qualifications for the 1000m finals, the men competing in the 500m qualifications, and the women competing for the 3000m relay medals. Female speed skaters will compete in the 5000m competition; female skiers will race downhill in the giant slalom. The two-women bobsleigh team will compete in the final heats for their medals, and the men will compete in the 4x10km cross-country skiing relay. Women freestyle skiers will compete in the aerials final. Curling tie-breakers take place today: both men's and women's teams will break their ties at 9 AM, 2 PM, and 7 PM PST. Quarterfinals for men's ice hockey take place at noon, 4:30 PM, 7 PM, and 9 PM PST.

On Thursday, February 25, women's figure skating concludes with the free program. The men compete in the freestyle skiing aerials final, and Nordic combined concludes with the large hill, 7.5km sprint. The women compete in the 4x5km cross-country skiing relay. Women's curling semifinals occur at 9 AM, while the men's curling semifinals occur at 2 PM PST. The women's ice hockey bronze medal game occurs at 11 AM, while the gold medal game will occur at 3:30 PM PST. This is another light day of competition.

On Friday, February 26th, short track speed skating concludes, with the 500m men's final, the 1000m women's final, and the 5000m men's relay. Biathlon concludes with the 4x7.5km men's relay. Women compete for their slalom medals, the four-man bobsled teams make their first day of runs, and the women snowboarders compete in the parallel giant slalom. Male and female speed skaters qualify for the team pursuit finals. The bronze medal game for women's curling occurs at 9 AM PST, while the gold medal game takes place at 3 PM PST. In men's hockey, semifinals occur at noon and at 6:30 PM PST.

On Saturday, February 27th, alpine skiing concludes with the men's slalom. The four-man bobsled team make their final runs for the medals; in cross-country skiing, the women will compete in their 30km mass start race. Male snowboarders compete in the parallel giant slalom, and men and women speed skaters compete in the team pursuit. Ice skaters have their gala exhibition. In curling, the men's bronze medal game takes place at 9 AM PST, while the gold medal game occurs at 3 PM. The men's ice hockey bronze medal game occurs at 7 PM PST.

On Sunday, 28 February, the Olympics conclude, but not before a few more final events. At 9:30 AM PST, the men's 50km mass start cross-country skiing race begins. At 12:15 PM PST, the gold medal game for men's hockey occurs. At 5:30 PM PST, the closing ceremonies for the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics begin, concluding two weeks of competition. More than likely, the closing ceremonies will be televised live.

I noticed that one of the recent blog posts (located here covering the 2010 Vancouver Olympics was a petition to boycott the Olympics. What are the reasons for boycotting this Olympics?

• According to this blogger, the Olympics are racist. Has it always been perfect? I could see someone wanting to boycott the 1936 Berlin Olympics, that gave legitimacy to the Nazi regime, or even the 2008 Beijing Olympics, but Canada? Although they have thrown pastors in jail for hate crimes if they preach against homosexuality, that's not what this person was referring to. If I was going to boycott Canada for their response to Christianity, I'd be boycotting nearly every country on the planet.
  
• British Columbia was stolen from the Native Americans. In history, things happen. If you're going to make that argument for every country that stole land from someone else, you're going to have to boycott the entire continent of Europe, because just about everywhere on the planet was taken by force at some point. America has had its feuds with the Native Americans as well.
  
• Ecological destruction. The Olympics are a massive building project. Thousands of trees had to be cut down to make the Olympic village. Perhaps the blogger has a point, but there is some amount of ecological damage in almost every building project.
  
• Homelessness. When the Olympics are built, often housing units are displaced, which causes homelessness. However, these people usually find homes eventually. The Olympics create athletic facilities that are used for decades in the future. I personally benefited from facilities built for the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, as I went to college at the University of Southern California, which uses many of the facilities from that Olympics.
  
• Prostitution and Violence Against Women. We should also banish the yearly Superbowl as well, and many other large worldwide gatherings. Where people with money gather to celebrate, unfortunately, this is often an unfortunate side effect.
  
• Police State. Vancouver will be infested with cops and security measures during the Olympics. Would it be better to have a major national incident again, and have several people bombed and killed?
  
• The debt. Perhaps the blogger has a point there. It seems that every Olympics, countries try to top each other during the opening ceremonies and the like. With the world entering a recession, perhaps it is time to scale back on spending for the Olympics... but not boycott them.
  
• Olympic corruption. And we don't have corruption in the US Government? Or many other governments in the world? This is a problem that can be solved, not a reason to throw out the Olympics entirely.
  
• Corporate invasion. McDonald's, Coca-Cola, Johnson & Johnson, etc. all spend a lot of money to sponsor the Olympics. I don't personally have a problem with this. Perhaps the Olympics would cost governments more without it.
  
  If there was any recent Olympics to boycott, it would have been the Beijing Olympics, not Canada. However, I don't begrudge the Chinese their opportunity to host the Olympics. Despite the massive human rights problems that China has, more than 1/6th of the world's population lives there. Despite my feelings about the Chinese government, the Chinese people are just as deserving of having a moment of pride in their country as everybody else. As far as Canada goes... they're a pretty tame country that I can't say too much negative about.

Vancouver is the warmest Winter Olympic location yet. In February, the average temperature is between 37 and 46 degrees Farenheit. While you're in Vancouver, you might want to step away from the Olympics a bit and take advantage of some of the local attractions. Some of the places that you might want to visit include:

• Museums
  
  
  
  • Langley Centennial Museum. Has information about the fur trade era, as well as art, science, and history exhibits. Located at 9135 King St, Fort Langley, BC. Phone (604) 888-3922. Email information@langleymuseum.org.
    
  • Inuit Gallery of Vancouver. The Inuit were the native people of the Vancouver area. View native masks, prints, tapestries, jewelry and more. Located at 345 Water St., Vancouver, BC. Phone (604) 688-7323. Email gallery@inuit.com.
    
  • Burnaby Village Museum. See what life was like here in the 1920s. This is a living village with a blacksmith shop, farmhouse, print shop, and general store. You can have a treat at the ice cream parlor or trace your family roots. Located at 6501 Deer Lake Ave., Burnaby, BC. Phone (604) 293-6500. Email bvm@burnaby.ca. Web site http://www.burnabyvillagemuseum.ca/.
    
  
  
• Other Attractions
  
  
  
  • Vancouver Aquarium. Canada's largest aquarium. See harbor seals, sea otters, sharks, and more. In addition to Canadian coastal exhibits, there are also Amazon and Arctic displays. Located at 845 Avison Way in Vancouver. Phone (604) 659-3521. Email guestrelations@vanaqua.org. Web site http://www.visitvanaqua.org/.
    
  • H.R. MacMillan Space Centre. There's a planetarium, observatory, a virtual simulator, and even laser shows. Located at 1100 Chestnut, Vancouver, BC. Phone (604) 738-7827. Email info@spacecentre.ca. Web site http://www.hrmacmillanspacecentre.com/.
    
  • Splashdown Park. Ummm... brrr? Actually in the summer it might not be so bad, and it's closed in the winter (so you won't visit it at the same time you visit the games). Lots of waterslides, a giant hot tub, pool, a splash park, and a river run. Located at 4799 Nulelum Way, Tsawwassen, BC. Phone (604) 943-2251. Email info@splashdownpark.ca. Web site http://www.splashdownpark.ca/.
    
  • Greater Vancouver Zoo. In the mood for something that's not so cold? The zoo has lions and tigers and bears (oh my!) and a whole lot more, including giraffes, snakes, and sheep. Located at 5048 264th St, Aldergrove, BC. Phone (604) 856-6825. Email info@gvzoo.com. Web site http://www.gvzoo.com/.
    
  
  

Photo by Thom Quine at Wikimedia Commons.

The torch relay will be started at Olympia, Greece in late 2009. It will travel over the North Pole until it reaches the Arctic part of Canada. Canadians will then carry the torch all over the country. It will be carried on foot, by dogsled, horses, snowmobiles, planes, and other forms of transportation that Canadians use. It is going to be the longest torch relay in Winter Olympic history, and will arrive in Vancouver right before the opening ceremonies.

The Olympic torch design has recently been unveiled. A picture of it is located to the right. The Vancouver Sun has more information about the unveiling of the torch for the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Torch Relay.

I'm lucky in that I've had two Olympic experiences in my lifetime that were pretty cool.

In 1996, I had my first Olympic experience. The Olympics were going to be in Atlanta, and they were going to start the Olympic torch relay in Los Angeles, where I was living. They needed volunteers to carry the flags during the torch relay kickoff. I bribed my friend to let me carry the American flag. It was a great experience. When I entered the stadium, I held the flag up high, with it fluttering as I ran. People attending the event stood as the flag went by. It was an awesome experience.

My second Olympic experience was in 1997, when I got the chance to go to Sydney, Australia. They were building the Olympic Complex for 2000, and I got the chance to take a bus on over to see it. I got to visit the track stadium where the athletes would run in a few years, and I ran around the track. I got to see the swimming stadium. I was really excited.

Alas, I've never been able to go to an Olympic games, and I'm not sure if I'll be able to go to this one... we'll see. I would love to. I have family in the area on the Washington side of the border, so it would be a wonderful vacation.