2010 Winter Olympics
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Categories: Articles needing additional references from July 2007 | Future sporting events | All articles with unsourced statements | Articles with unsourced statements since April 2007 | Articles with unsourced statements since February 2008 | Articles with unsourced statements since March 2008 | Articles with unsourced statements since December 2007 | 2010 Winter Olympics | Sport in Vancouver | Tourism in Vancouver | 2010 in Canada
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The 2010 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XXI Olympic Winter Games or the 21st Winter Olympics, will take place in 2010 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Both the Olympic and Paralympic Games are being organized by the Vancouver Organizing Committee (VANOC). The 2010 Winter Olympics will be 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 and the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary. The villages of Whistler and Garibaldi bid for the games in 1976 but failed to win. Following Olympic tradition, current Vancouver mayor Sam Sullivan received the Olympic flag during the closing ceremony of the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy, which was also attended by Governor General Michaëlle Jean and Premier of British Columbia, Gordon Campbell. The flag was raised on February 28, 2006, in a special flag raising ceremony, and will be on display at Vancouver's city hall until the Olympic opening ceremony. At the same time, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said in a statement that the Olympic flame had begun its journey to Vancouver.[1] The Call for Volunteers programme was launched on February 12, 2008 to find 25,000 volunteers.[2]
BiddingThe 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. After the bid bribing scandal that took place with the 2002 Winter Olympics at Salt Lake City (which saw Quebec City asking for compensation (CDN$8 million) for their failed 2002 bid[3]), 1999 saw many of the rules around the bidding process change. 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 from the city. 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. Vancouver's residents were asked in a referendum whether they accepted the responsibilities of the host city should it win its bid. Sixty-four percent of residents accepted the proposal. However, like all elections, the facts are in the numbers. The referendum was held only in Vancouver, though the infrastructure tab was to be picked up by the province as a whole. Furthermore, this victory was helped by a media campaign which saw those who supported the Olympic bid outspend those who were against the bid by 88 to one - this point needs clarification, but ratios this high were bandied about at the time. Regardless, it was the first time such a referendum was successful. In neighbouring Washington state to the south, both the state legislature and Governor Gary Locke passed a resolution in support of Vancouver's bid, and sent it to the IOC.[4] 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. 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. Two years earlier, Canada had put in a bid for the 2008 Summer Olympics in Toronto, but lost out to Beijing. British Columbia had refused to support Toronto's bid that, had it succeeded, would have ended Vancouver's chances of hosting the 2010 games as the IOC preferred to rotate the Games among continents.
Construction
The Olympic Flag outside the Vancouver City Hall. This particular flag was replaced with a replica after it was stolen.
The initial problem Vancouver faced in winning the bid for the 2010 Winter Olympics was fundraising for construction of venues. The Bid Committee, and subsequently VANOC, arranged for commitments of investment on a 50/50 basis by the federal and provincial governments, primarily for amounts to cover venue construction costs. It later began to achieve sponsorships and donations from private corporations and institutions. Such commitments were made enthusiastically as a chance to build on the world prestige Vancouver already gained as host of the 1986 World's Fair and to improve on the technological advances made during that event, like the expansion of the SkyTrain transit system. The expansion was a pledge of the BC government, and not the responsibility of VANOC. Construction of the rapid transit link between Richmond, the adjacent international airport and downtown Vancouver is now underway and is expected to be completed by late 2009. The BC government also indicated it would pay for a C$600 million upgrade of the Sea-to-Sky Highway to accommodate increased traffic between Vancouver and Whistler, although this highway upgrade has been overdue for more than a decade and will still not meet the basic needs of the corridor.[citation needed] The three main venues -- constructed at a cost of $580 million, about 23 per cent above the 2003 bid forecasts -- have already had their work largely completed. The $40-million Hillcrest/Nat Bailey stadium park, which will host curling, will be finished later this year. The Vancouver Olympic Committee (VANOC) spent $16.6 million on upgrading facilities at Cypress, which will host the freestyle (aerials, moguls, ski cross) and snowboarding events. The athletes' villages in Whistler and Vancouver are still under construction, as are the main media centre in Coal Harbour and its Whistler counterpart.[citation needed] As of 2004, the operational cost of the 2010 Winter Olympics is estimated to be in the range of C$1.4 billion. In 2006, VANOC CEO John Furlong estimated it would be about C$1.7 billion, all raised from non-government sources, primarily through sponsorships and the auction of national broadcasting rights. C$580 million is the taxpayer-supported budget to construct or renovate venues throughout Vancouver and Whistler, C$200 million is expected to be spent for security, of which the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) is the lead agency. Logo and mascotsWikinews has related news:
The 2010 Winter Olympics logo was unveiled on April 23, 2005 and is named Ilaanaq the Inunnguaq. Ilaanaq is the Inuktitut word for friend. The logo is based on the Inukshuk 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.[5] After the unveiling, many people were displeased with the look of the new mascots because they represented a small population of Vancouver.[citation needed] Inspired by traditional First Nations creatures, the mascots include:
Miga and Quatchi are mascots for the Olympic Games, while Sumi is the mascot for the Paralympic Games. SportsFifteen winter sports events have been announced as part of the 2010 Winter Olympics. The eight events categorized as ice sports are: bobsled, luge, skeleton, ice hockey, figure skating, speed skating, short track speed skating, and curling. The three sports categorized as alpine, skiing and snowboarding events are: alpine, freestyle and snowboarding. The four sports categorized as Nordic events are: biathlon, cross country skiing, ski jumping, and nordic combined. The opening and closing ceremonies and the events categorized as ice sports (excluding bobsleigh, luge and skeleton) will be held in Vancouver and Richmond. The sports categorized as "Nordic events" will be held in the Callaghan Valley located just to the west of Whistler. All alpine skiing events will be held on Whistler Mountain (Creekside) and sliding events (bobsleigh, luge and skeleton) will be held on Blackcomb Mountain. Cypress Mountain (located in Cypress Provincial Park in West Vancouver) will host the 2010 freestyle skiing (aerials, moguls, and ski cross), and all 2010 snowboard events (half-pipe, parallel giant slalom, snowboard cross). Vancouver 2010 will also be unique in the fact that both men's and women's hockey will be played on a narrower, NHL-sized ice rink, measuring 200 ft × 85 ft (61 m × 26 m), instead of the international size of 200 ft × 98.5 ft (61 m × 30 m). The games will be played at General Motors Place, home of the NHL's Vancouver Canucks. This change is expected to save $10 million (CAD) in construction costs and allow more than 35,000 more spectators to attend Olympic hockey games.[6][7] Additional eventsThere were a number of events proposed to be included in the 2010 Winter Olympics.[8] On November 28, 2006, the IOC Executive Board at their meeting in Kuwait voted to include skicross in the official program.[9][10] The Vancouver Olympic Committee (VANOC) subsequently approved the sport to be officially part of the Games program.[11] Events up for inclusion but were ultimately rejected included:[12]
ControversyWomen's Ski JumpingThe IOC voted in 2006 not to include women's ski jumping in the 2010 Games, on the grounds that the sport was not yet developed enough and did not meet basic criteria for inclusion. The members of the Canadian Women Ski Jumping Team filed a grievance with the Canadian Human Rights Board citing gender discrimination. So far the IOC has yet to comment or change its decision.[4] VenuesFor 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 Ceremonies for a Winter Olympics will be held indoors. Vancouver is also the warmest city ever to host a Winter Olympics.[13] In February, when the Games will be held, Vancouver has an average temperature of 4.8 degrees Celsius (40.6 degrees Fahrenheit). Greater VancouverVancouver
University of British Columbia
Richmond
West Vancouver
Whistler
BroadcastingVancouver 2010 will be broadcast worldwide by a number of television broadcasters. As rights for the 2010 games have been packaged with those for the 2012 Summer Olympics, broadcasters will be largely identical for both events. Confirmed broadcasters include:
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