Winter Olympics Vancouver 2010

Come Play With Us in 2010

Olympic Winter Games - February 12 to 28, 2010
Paralympic Winter Games - March 12 to 21, 2010

For the first time, the Winter Olympics will be held by the sea and some venues, such as the Richmond Olympic Oval, are at sea level. Also, for the first time ever the Opening Ceremony for a Winter Olympics will be held indoors.

Vancouver is also the warmest city ever to host a Winter Olympics.[15] In February, when the Games will be held, Vancouver has an average temperature of 4.8 degrees Celsius (40.6 degrees Fahrenheit).

(Winter Olympics is February 12, 2010)

Vancouver BC 2010 Winter Olympics - Celebrate the Possible

Vancouver 2010 is an open invitation for everyone to share in the Olympic and Paralympic journey, to find and step up to their own podium. It is about creating everyday champions, every day.

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The Complete Book of the Winter Olympics: Vancouver 2010 Edition

This is an indispensable guide for all fans.

The Complete Book of the Winter Olympics: Vancouver 2010 Edition (Complete Book of the Olympics)

by: David Wallechinsky, Jaime Loucky

Amazon Price: $16.47 (as of 11/27/2009)

From speed skating to snowboarding, bobsleigh to ice hockey, this encyclopedia book gives the medals tables, timings, distances, and scores of every event, and provides vital information on rules and scoring systems. But much more than a statistical compendium, the book also offers a wealth of Winter Olympic history, anecdote, and lore, bringing alive the most dramatic moments from the Games and celebrating the many extraordinary individuals who have competed. It covers each event, Games by Games, from the four skating events which first featured in the 1908 London Olympics to freestyle skiing and curling-including discontinued events.

Olympics

World Cup Medal Standings:
Follow all the results of Canadian athletes as they compete on the World Cup circuit, leading up to the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver

Top 10 Canadian Olympic Winter Moments:
Join Brian Williams and a select group of Canadian personalities as they count down the top Canadian Winter Olympic moments.

Over The Bolts:
Catch the latest episode of this intimate, behind-the-scenes look at the quest for a spot on Canada's Snowboard team for the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver.

World Cup Watch:
Keep track of how Canadians are doing on the World Cup circuit as they prepare to qualify for the Olympic team

Olympic History :
Get all the details and results from the previous 20 Winter Olympic Games

Paralympics Winter Games: A challenge beyond sport

Links

Vancouver 2010 - Welcome: Official site of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games. Includes news releases, organizing committee, about the host city, sport, plan, olympic games emblem, and sponsors and partners.
Impact on Community Coalition: Impact of the Olympics on Community Coalition
(IOCC) is an independent
organization dedicated to ensuring that environmental, social, transportation,
2010 Commerce Centre: 2010 Commerce Centre
BC Olympic & Paralympic Winter Games Secretariat - Ministry of Economic Development an Olympic suppliera subcontractor to a winning supplier? a licensee of products? Your 2010 Business Connection
Live - the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Torch Relay: Using a specially-mounted streaming camera on the media truck accompanying the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Torch Relay, CTVOlympics.ca and Canada's Olympic Broadcast Media Consortium is proud to present to you live coverage of the torch Relay as it crosses the country. Follow us on twitter.

A Path of Northern Lights - Complete Edition: The Vancouver 2010 Olympic Torch Relay

Bilingual edition release (April 5, 2010)

This title has not yet been released.
You may pre-order it now and we will deliver it to you when it arrives.
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A Path of Northern Lights / Une trane daurores borales, Complete Edition: The Vancouver 2010 Olympic Torch Relay / Le relais de la flamme olympique de Vancouver 2010

by: VANOC

Amazon Price: $25.00 (as of 11/27/2009)

In 2010, Vancouver and Whistler will host 17 days of Olympic Winter Games competition (February 12 to 28). A torch relay will precede the Games, culminating in the lighting of the Olympic Cauldron on February 12, 2010. As the flame makes its way around Canada for the 2010 Olympic Torch Relay, more than 12,000 people will have a once-in-a-lifetime chance to be part of history by carrying the flame as it journeys to Vancouver. Through stunning photographs, captions, stirring personal stories and interviews, readers will be able to experience the joy, excitement and pride of the 2010 Olympic Torch Relay.

LiveCity Vancouver

The Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games experience for residents, visitors and the media goes well beyond the athletic competitions that take place within the sport venues.

LiveCity Vancouver includes two dynamic celebration sites in downtown Vancouver that will be open to the public for family fun, entertainment, activities and more - all free of charge - during the 2010 Winter Games. The heart of LiveCity will be two sites - at David Lam Park and Georgia Street, respectively - connected by animated pedestrian thoroughfares through Vancouver's Yaletown district.

Come to LiveCity Vancouver during the 2010 Winter Games and experience:

* High-quality, secure, family-friendly environment that showcases the arts, culture, entertainment and Olympic sponsors
* Schedules and content built around Games-time events
* Events that are open, accessible and free of charge
* Planned on-screen programming on large LED screens showing Olympic and Paralympic events and track the progress of Canadian athletes
* Live programming featuring the very best local, national and international performing artists, as well as special appearances by past and present Olympians, Paralympians and other special guests

LiveCity Vancouver - produced by the City of Vancouver in partnership with the Government of Canada - will also showcase Canada's diverse provinces and territories, and feature exciting sponsor pavilions with activities for everyone to enjoy. Guest services at each site will include information, security, washrooms, merchandise, food and beverage services, and interactive and engaging activities at our sponsor and partner pavilions.

Current Info

Amy Goodman and Canada's Olympic paranoia: Harsha Walia, member of No One Is Illegal and the Olympic Resistance Network, said to me, "In the lead-up to the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Games, ...
Torch Flame scheduled to travel on a fishing vessel in Shippagan, NB: On the third day of the relay, when the torch was on Vancouver Island, it got a lift in a canoe and on a surf board. Wednesday the Olympic flame made its ...
Five-Time Olympic Speedskating Champion Loses Blood-Doping Appeal: By JEFFREY MARCUS Gero Breloer/Associated Press Germany's Claudia Pechstein lost her appeal of a doping ban that will keep her out of the Vancouver Olympics ...
Allan Muir>INSIDE THE NHL: ... Sutter guiding Miikka Kiprusoff when the Calgary stopper announced that he would either start for Team Finland at the Vancouver Olympics or stay home? ...

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Books about the Winter Olympics

The Encyclopedia of the Winter Olympics (Watts Reference)

by: John Wukovits

Amazon Price: $17.95 (as of 11/27/2009)

Only With Passion: Figure Skating's Most Winning Champion on Competition and Life

by: Katarina Witt

Amazon Price: $23.50 (as of 11/27/2009)

Vancouver Olympics: A little pre-planning can make the difference in your Vancouver Olympics experience.
Dave Zirin: Amy Goodman And Canada's Olympic Paranoia: The critical concern of the Canadian Border authorities was that Ms. Goodman would be discussing the 2010 Winter Olympic games in Vancouver. This is not a joke.
Archive » Dick Ebersol: Charismatic athletes should give Vancouver ...: Description: NBC Universal Sports & Olympics Chair Dick Ebersol said he anticipates strong viewership for 2010 Vancouver Games Sports Business Daily writes. The reason? Four ?charismatic&rdquo...
Olympic Avoidance Effect – Tourism Tanks in Whistler & Vancouver ...: The drop in visitors is mostly attributed to American travelers hesitant to cross the border for fear of getting caught up in the bedlam and construction of the preparations for the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics. ...

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Events

Fifteen winter sports events were announced as part of the 2010 Winter Olympics. Eight events categorized as Ice Sports were included: bobsleigh, luge, skeleton, ice hockey, figure skating, speed skating, short track speed skating, curling. Three sports were categorized as Alpine, Skiing and Snowboarding events: alpine, freestyle and snowboarding. Four sports categorized as Nordic Events were included: biathlon, cross country skiing, ski jumping, nordic combined.

Photo is new long track speed skating venue in Richmond

Alpine Skiing

n alpine skiing, racers can reach speeds of more than 130 kilometres an hour, travelling down a vertical drop that ranges from 180 metres (Slalom) to 1100 metres (Downhill) for men and 140 metres (Slalom) to 800 metres (Downhill) for women. The vertical drop is made even more difficult by a series of gates the skiers must twist and turn to pass through. Skiers who miss a gate must climb back up and go through it or be disqualified.

The five Olympic alpine skiing events for men and women are Downhill, Slalom, Giant slalom, Super G, and Combined.

Downhill
The downhill event features the longest course and the highest speeds in alpine skiing. Each skier makes a single run down a single course and the fastest time determines the winner.

Super-G
Super-G (for super giant slalom) combines the speed of downhill with the more precise turns of giant slalom. The course is shorter than downhill but longer than a giant slalom course. Each skier makes one run down a single course and the fastest time determines the winner.

Giant Slalom
Giant slalom is similar to the slalom, with fewer, but wider and smoother turns. Each skier makes two runs down two different courses on the same slope. Both runs take place on the same day, usually with the first run held in the morning and the second run in the afternoon. The times are added together, and the fastest total time determines the winner.

Slalom
The slalom features the shortest course and the quickest turns. As in the giant slalom, each skier makes two runs down two different courses on the same slope. Both runs take place on the same day. The times are added together and the fastest total time determines the winner.

Super Combined
The combined event consists of one downhill followed by two slalom runs, using a shorter course. The times are added together and the fastest total time determines the winner.

Biathlon

The Biathlon combines cross-country skiing and rifle shooting and didn't start as a sport, but as a way for northern European hunters, as early as 2000 BC, to put food on the table. Beginning in the mid-16th century, Scandinavian countries used troops on skis to defend against their enemies.

Today, the biathlon consists of ten separate events that alternate cross-country skiing with target shooting. The object is to complete the course in the least amount of time, hitting as many targets as possible to avoid time penalties.

How It Works

The skiing portion of the biathlon requires fast and physically demanding cross-country racing, while the rifle shooting requires accuracy and control - not easy when your heart is racing and your chest is heaving.

When the athletes ski into the shooting range, they must put down their ski poles and take five shots at a metal target 50 metres away. Each target has five plates, fixed in a straight row, which the athlete must hit the middle (the bull's eye). The bull's eye size changes depending on whether the athlete is shooting in a prone or standing position. Prone, the bull's eye is the size of a golf ball (45mm); standing, it's the size of a large grapefruit (115mm).

A top athlete usually takes 20 to 25 seconds to aim and shoot five bullets. Missing a target plate can be costly: depending on the event, a missed shot means either one minute of added time or having to ski a 150-metre penalty loop.

Although all biathlon disciplines combine skiing and marksmanship, the sport features several distinct events: the Individual Start, the Sprint, the Pursuit, the Mass Start and the Relay.

Araxi: Seasonal Recipes from the Celebrated Whistler Restaurant

"What a book to have. Inspiring and creative-a must-have ingredient in any kitchen- Gordon Ramsay

From its front door is a view of Whistler Village and two of the highest skiable peaks in North America, a site of the 2010 Winter Olympic Games

Araxi: Seasonal Recipes from the Celebrated Whistler Restaurant

by: James Walt

Amazon Price: $29.20 (as of 11/27/2009)

When chef Gordon Ramsay declares something the best, you listen. And he is right: Araxis combination of local produce and an incredible natural setting are surpassed by few. From its front door is a view of Whistler Village and two of the highest skiable peaks in North America, a site of the 2010 Winter Olympic Games.

Cross Country Skiing

Cross-country skiers competed at the first Olympic Winter Games in Chamonix, in 1924, in 18-kilometre and 50-kilometre races for men. Women cross-country skiers made their debut at the 1952 Olympic Winter Games in Oslo. The cross-country skiing technique known as skating or free technique became a separate Olympic competitive discipline at the Calgary 1988 Winter Games.

How It Works

Racers use two basic techniques in cross-country: classical, where the skis move parallel to each other through machine-groomed tracks in the snow, and free technique where skiers propel themselves in a manner similar to speed skating, pushing off with the edge of their skis. Free technique uses shorter skis and is slightly faster than classical - on average about 8% faster over an entire race distance.

In Olympic cross-country skiing, women compete in individual sprint, team sprint, 10 km individual start, 15 km pursuit, 30 km mass start and the 4x5-km relay. Men compete in individual sprint, team sprint, 15 km individual start, 30 km pursuit, 50 km mass start and the 4x10 km relay. The technique used (classical versus free) in the 10 and 15 km individual start, individual sprint, team sprint and mass start alternates with each cycle of Olympic Games.

Nordic Combined

Throughout Norway in the 1800s, skiers gathered each winter for a series of ski carnivals - essentially small competitions with a little popular entertainment thrown in. A small group of these winter athletes specialized in both cross-country skiing, which demands endurance and strength, and ski jumping, which requires physical strength and technical control. These athletes were considered the very best of all the carnival athletes.

Men have competed in Nordic combined individual events since the first Olympic Winter Games in Chamonix, in 1924. The team event was introduced at the Calgary 1988 Winter Games, while the sprint event joined the Olympic Winter Games at Salt Lake City in 2002.

How It Works

In the Olympic Nordic combined events, men compete in individual, sprint and team events. The jumping portion occurs first followed by a free technique cross-country race. The break between the jumping and the cross-country race can be as little as 35 minutes or as long as a few hours.

Known as a "Gunderson" or pursuit start, in each of the events, the results of the jumping generate the starting seed for the cross-country race that follows seeing the second and subsequent athletes begin seconds or even minutes after the best jumper. Using pack-racing strategies, the athletes cluster into "trains" that chase down other "trains'" of athletes. The winner of the Nordic combined event is the first athlete across the cross-country finish line.

Ski Jumping

The first known ski jumper was a Norwegian lieutenant named Olaf Rye, who launched himself 9.5 metres in the air in 1809 before an audience of other soldiers. The continued desire to jump longer led to the radical new development in 1985 of V-style, where a ski jumper holds his skis in a V-shaped position (instead of parallel) while in the air. Most ski jumpers of the day laughed at this innovation but eventually sport science caught up realized that V-style produced 28 per cent more lift.

Men's ski jumping has been part of the Olympic Winter Games since the first Games in Chamonix, in 1924. The large hill competition was added for the 1964 Winter Games in Innsbruck.

How It Works

In ski jumping, an athlete skis down a long ramp, referred to as the inrun and launches into the air at speeds of up to 95 km/h. Technique is integral to ski jumping as athletes must perform a very precise and well-timed takeoff. Once in the air, athletes assume the V-style airfoil and adjusts his position to maximize lift and minimize drag.

Competitors are evaluated on distance and style. While there is a very close relationship between distance and style, and the skier with the longest jump will often have the highest style points, an exception to this can be found in the landing portion. Long jumps can make landing in a controlled telemark position more difficult. The quality of landing can therefore be a determining factor in deciding on finishing place if the distances are similar.

Two jumps are used in Olympic competition: normal hill and large hill, with the normal hill being the smaller of the two. The jump's actual height is of little importance; it's the length of jump that the hill is designed to accommodate that's key. Athletes can travel 105 metres on a normal hill and 140 metres on a large hill.

The distance ski jumpers travel in competition is closely regulated by a jury. At the start of the competitive round, the jury selects a start gate that allows the best athletes to fly close to the maximum safe distance. All athletes start from the same gate and, as a result, less proficient jumpers fly a shorter distance. Ski jumps are designed with many start benches allowing the jury to select the appropriate start gate based on conditions as wind, temperature, humidity, snow type and other facts can impact the distance a jumper flies.

Bobsleigh

The idea of racing sleds down a steep and twisting track dates back about 150 years, to the mid-19th century, when British tourists started tobogganing on the snowbound roads of the Alps.

The four-man bobsleigh was on the program of the first Olympic Winter Games in 1924, in Chamonix. The two-man bobsleigh event joined the Olympics in 1932. Women competed in bobsleigh for the first time in 2002, at Salt Lake City.

How It Works

Today's bobsleigh is built to be fast and aerodynamic, with a rounded fibreglass nose and four highly polished steel runners. To start, the racers push off as fast as they can for 35 metres, then jump into the bobsleigh feet first, with the driver's legs inside the nose at the front. The driver sits upright and steers down the track, while the brakeman stops the sled at the end of the run.

There are three Olympic bobsleigh events: the two-person and four-person bobsleigh for men, and the two-person bobsleigh for women. In both the men's and women's events, four heats are held over two days. In all three events, the crew with the lowest combined time, measured to 0.01 seconds, wins.

Luge

Two athletes - Peter Minch of Switzerland and John Robertson of Australia - tied for first in what was called "The Great International Sled Race" of February 12, 1883. Luge races have grown considerably faster since then, with groomed luge runs and aerodynamic equipment, so that speeds now regularly reach 140 kilometres an hour or more. Luge for both men and women made its Olympic debut at the 1964 Games in Innsbruck.

How it Works

In the luge - the French word for "sled" - the racers start by sitting on their open, moulded fibreglass sleds and rocking back and forth in order to burst out of the start. After pulling away, they use spiked gloves on the ice surface for extra acceleration before they lie down on their backs with their feet stretched out in front of them. Luge racers steer using slight shifts of their legs and shoulders, and brake by putting their feet down and pulling up on the sled's two runner blades.

There are two individual or 'singles' luge events in the Olympics, one for men and one for women, and one two-person or 'doubles' event.

The singles events consist of four heats over two days. The individual with the lowest combined time over the four runs wins. Men and women compete on the same track, but the women start from a position further down the course. The four-run format is unique to the Olympic Winter Games and is designed to reward consistency, endurance and ability to withstand pressure, particularly on the second day.

The doubles event consists of two runs over one day, with the fastest total time determining the winner. There is no rule that says a doubles team must comprise members of the same sex, but most countries enter two-man teams.

Skeleton

Like the other sliding sports of bobsleigh and luge, the start is crucial in skeleton - where a tenth of a second lead at the start can become three-tenths of a second by the bottom of the run - so these athletes train much like sprinters to develop the powerful legs they need to explode onto the track. But speed is not the only factor: they must also find the best line and steer smoothly through each turn to keep their speed high.

Men's skeleton was raced at the 1928 and 1948 Olympic Winter Games, both in St. Moritz. Skeleton for both men and women was added as a permanent Olympic event at the 2002 Winter Games in Salt Lake City.

How It Works

Skeleton got its name because the sled the racers use - originally metal, now fibreglass and metal - looks a bit like the human skeleton. To start, a skeleton racer grasps the handles on either side of the skeleton, runs as fast as possible for 50 metres, then dives head first onto the sled. Racers lie on their stomachs and steer by very slightly shifting their bodies.

There are two individual skeleton events in the Olympics, one for men and one for women. Both events consist of four heats held over two days, timed electronically to 0.01 seconds. The individual with the lowest combined time wins.