Vancouver 2010 was immensely successful, with the official Olympic Committee press release citing "Full venues, record public attendance: Over 97% of the 1.54 million tickets available were sold, with 71% to the Canadian public at an average price of $139. Adding in international public ticket sales, the percentage of ticket sales to the public exceeds 75% of all available tickets."[1] Vancouver 2010 also achieved record global television coverage as per the Olympic Committee, more than double the viewership of the preceding Turin 2006 games and triple the available coverage ofSalt Lake City 2002, and is "recognized in numerous post Games reports as being among the most widely viewed and well received Games in Olympic history, both in Canada and internationally."[1] Vancouver 2010'sgold medal game between Canada and USA "was the most watched hockey game ever with viewership of 114 million viewers around the world."[1]
For the first time, Canada won gold in anofficial sport as the host nation of the Olympics, having failed to do so in 1976 and 1988 (although Canada won the 1988 woman's curling event in Calgary when it was still only ademonstration sport).[5] Canada clinched their first gold medal on the second day of the competition, first topping the gold medal tally on the second-to-last day of competition, and went on to become the first host nation sinceNorway in1952 to lead the gold medal count.[6] Canada broke the record for the most gold medals won at a single Winter Olympics (14), which had been set by theSoviet Union in 1976 andNorway in2002 (13).[7] TheUnited States won the most medals in total, marking their second time doing so at the Winter Olympics, and broke the record for the most medals won during the Winter Games (37), a record held until then byGermany in 2002 (36).[6] Athletes fromSlovakia[8] andBelarus[9] won the first Winter Olympic gold medals for their nations.
When Vancouver was bidding for the games, it proposed different dates (5-21 February for the XXI Olympic Winter Games and 5-14 March for the X Paralympic Winter Games).[4]
A development program for the Whistler and Mount Garibaldi region was then launched to host the1972 Games. It included the development of road infrastructure, electrical network and drinking water, which was still absent in this region.[12] But once again, Banff was chosen to represent Canada as the potential host city for the 1972 Games, which were eventually awarded toSapporo,Japan.[11] In 1968, the GODA was finally chosen by the Canadian Olympic Committee with the aim of making a joint candidacy with the city ofVancouver for the organization of the1976 Winter Olympics. However, the chances of Vancouver's candidacy dwindled whenMontreal was selected to host the1976 Summer Olympics, and the Vancouver-Garibaldi candidacy was thus eliminated in the first round of voting.[12]Vancouver was again a candidate for the1980 Games, but withdrew at the last moment.[citation needed] For the1988 Winter Olympics,Calgary was chosen as the preferred site for the Canadian bid,[13] and would go on to win the election and thus become the first Canadian city to host the Winter Olympics.
For the 2010 Games, the Canadian Olympic Association chose Vancouver as the Canadian candidate city over Calgary, which sought to re-host the Games, andQuebec 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 had 25 and Calgary had 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 votes. Vancouver had also bid for the1976 games, which were first awarded to Denver, then to Innsbruck and the1980 games, which were awarded to Lake Placid.
After thebribery scandal over the candidacy of theSalt Lake City bid for the2002 Winter Olympics (which resulted in Quebec City asking for compensation (C$8 million) for its unsuccessful bid),[14] many of the rules of the bidding process were changed in 1999. TheInternational Olympic Committee (IOC) created the Evaluation Commission, which was appointed on October 24, 2002. Prior to the bidding for the2008 Summer Olympics, host cities would often 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 analyzed the candidate city features and provided its input back to the IOC.
Vancouver won the bid to host the Olympics by a vote of the International Olympic Committee on July 2, 2003, at the 115th IOC Session held inPrague, Czech Republic. The result was announced by IOC PresidentJacques Rogge.[15] Vancouver faced two other finalists shortlisted that same February:Pyeongchang, South Korea, andSalzburg, Austria. Pyeongchang, which later won the rights of hosting both2018 Winter Olympics and2024 Winter Youth Olympics (as a part of theGangwon Province) 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 two votes. Vancouver's victory came almost two years after Toronto's2008 Summer Olympic bid was defeated by Beijing in a landslide vote.
The Vancouver Olympic Committee (VANOC) spent C$16.6 million on upgrading facilities atCypress Mountain, which hosted the freestyle (aerials, moguls, ski cross) and snowboarding events. With the opening in February 2009 of the C$40 millionVancouver Olympic/Paralympic Centre atHillcrest Park, which hosted curling, every sports venue for the 2010 Games was completed on time and at least one year prior to the Games.[16][17]
In 2004, the operational cost of the 2010 Winter Olympics was estimated to be Canadian $1.354 billion (about£828,499,787,€975,033,598 orUS$1,314,307,896). As of mid-2009 it was projected to be C$1.76 billion,[18] mostly raised from non-government sources,[18] primarily through sponsorships and the auction of national broadcasting rights. C$580 million was the taxpayer-supported budget to construct or renovate venues throughoutVancouver andWhistler. A final audit conducted byPricewaterhouseCoopers released in December 2010 revealed total operation cost to have been $1.84 billion and came in on budget resulting in neither surplus nor deficit. Construction of venues also came on budget with a total cost of $603 million.[19]
PricewaterhouseCoopers' study estimated a total contribution to the BC economy of $2.3 billion of Gross Domestic Product, and as well creating 45,000 jobs and contributing an additional $463 million to the tourism industry while venue construction byVANOC and 3rd parties added $1.22 billion to the economy, far short of the $10 billion forecast by PremierGordon Campbell. The study also said that hosting the Olympics was one of many reasons why the provincial debt grew by $24 billion during the decade. Non direct olympics games cost (e.g. expanded rail network, highways, security, paid time off for government employees "volunteering" etc.) cost in excess of 7 billion.[20] In 2011, the provincial auditor-general declined to conduct a post-Games audit.[21]
Some venues, including theRichmond Olympic Oval, were at sea level, a rarity for the Winter Games.[23] The 2010 Games were also the first—Winter or Summer—to have had an Opening Ceremony held indoors.[24] Greater Vancouver was the most populous metropolitan area ever to hold the Winter Games.[25] In February, the month when the Games were held, Vancouver has an average temperature of 4.8 °C (40.6 °F).[26] The average temperature as measured atVancouver International Airport was 7.1 °C (44.8 °F) for the month of February 2010.[27]
The opening and closing ceremonies were held atBC Place Stadium, which received over C$150 million in major renovations. Competition venues in Greater Vancouver included thePacific Coliseum, theVancouver Olympic/Paralympic Centre, theUBC Winter Sports Centre, theRichmond Olympic Oval andCypress Mountain. GM Place, now known asRogers Arena, played host toice hockey events, being renamedCanada Hockey Place for the duration of the Games since corporate sponsorship is not allowed for an Olympic venue.[28] Renovations included the removal of advertising from the ice surface and conversion of some seating to accommodate the media.[28] The 2010 Winter Olympics marked the first time an Olympic hockey game was played on a rink sized according to NHL rules instead ofinternational specifications. Competition venues in Whistler included Whistler Creekside at theWhistler Blackcomb ski resort, theWhistler Olympic Park, the Whistler Celebration Plaza and theWhistler Sliding Centre.
The 2010 Winter Games marked the first time that the energy consumption of the Olympic venues was tracked in real time and made available to the public. Energy data was collected from the metering and building automation systems of nine of the Olympic venues and was displayed online through the Venue Energy Tracker project.[29]
The Olympic Games in Vancouver were broadcast worldwide by a number of television broadcasters. As rights for the 2010 Games have been packaged with those for the2012 Summer Olympics, broadcasters were largely identical for both events.
The host broadcaster was Olympic Broadcasting Services Vancouver, a subsidiary of the IOC's new in-house broadcasting unitOlympic Broadcasting Services (OBS). The 2010 Olympics marked the first Games where the host broadcasting facilities were provided solely by OBS.[30] The executive director of Olympic Broadcasting Services Vancouver wasNancy Lee, a former producer and executive forCBC Sports.[31] The official broadcast theme was a piece called "City of Ice" composed byRob May andSimon Hill.[32]
NBC Universal networks televised the 2010 Winter Olympics in the United States, under a contract in which it paid US$2.2 billion for the rights to the Games and the2012 Summer Olympics. Advertising sales had slowed in comparison to previous Olympics due to theongoing recession, and NBC projected a financial loss upwards of $250 million on the Games.[34][35][36] Due to the growth ofsocial media, NBC faced particular criticism for its traditional practice oftape delaying network coverage of the Olympics for the west coast—a practice that was made more egregious by the fact that these Games took place at sites within thePacific Time Zone.[36] In April 2010, the network reported a financial loss of $233 million on the Games.[37]
TheAssociated Press (AP) announced that it would send 120 reporters, photographers, editors and videographers to cover the Games on behalf of the country'snews media.[38] The cost of their Olympics coverage prompted AP to make a "real departure for thewire service's online coverage". Rather than simply providing content, it partnered with more than 900 newspapers and broadcasters who split the ad revenue generated from an AP-produced multi-media package of video, photos, statistics, stories and a daily Webcast.[38] AP's coverage included amicrosite withweb widgets facilitating integration withsocial networking andbookmarking services.[39]
In France, the Games were covered byFrance Télévisions, which included continuous live coverage on its website.[40]
The Olympic Torch Relay is the transfer of the Olympic flame from AncientOlympia, 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 theOpening Ceremony.
For the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games, the flame was lit in Olympia on October 22, 2009.[citation needed] It then traveled fromGreece, over theNorth 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 ofVictoria. In Canada, the torch traveled approximately 45,000 kilometres (28,000 mi) 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.[41][42]
82National Olympic Committees (NOC) entered teams in the 2010 Winter Olympics.[54] Cayman Islands, Colombia, Ghana, Montenegro, Pakistan, Peru and Serbia made their winter Olympic debuts. Morocco returned to the Winter games after an 18-year absence, and Jamaica and Mexico returned after 8 years. Seven countries, Costa Rica, Kenya, Luxembourg, Madagascar, Thailand, Venezuela and the Virgin Islands which were at the 2006 Games, did not participate in 2010.
Tonga sought to make its Winter Olympic debut by entering a single competitor in luge, attracting some media attention, but he crashed in the final round of qualifying.[55]Luxembourg qualified two athletes[56] but did not participate because one did not reach the criteria set by the NOC[57] and the other was injured[58] before the Games. Below is a map of the participating nations and a list of the nations with the number of competitors indicated in brackets.[59]
Numbers in parentheses indicate the number of medal events contested in each separate discipline.
The opening and closing ceremonies and the events categorized as ice sports (excluding bobsleigh, luge and skeleton) were held in Vancouver and Richmond. The sports categorized as "Nordic events" were held in the Callaghan Valley located just to the west of Whistler. All alpine skiing events were held onWhistler Mountain (Creekside) and sliding events (bobsleigh, luge and skeleton) were held onBlackcomb Mountain.Cypress Mountain (located inCypress Provincial Park inWest Vancouver) hosted the freestyle skiing (aerials, moguls and ski cross), and all snowboard events (half-pipe, parallel giant slalom, snowboard cross).
Vancouver 2010 was also the first winter Olympics in which both men's and women's hockey were played on a narrower,NHL-sized ice rink,[60] measuring 200 ft × 85 ft (61 m × 26 m), instead of the international size of 200 ft × 98.5 ft (61.0 m × 30.0 m). The games were played atGeneral Motors Place (now Rogers Arena), home of the NHL'sVancouver Canucks, which was temporarily renamed Canada Hockey Place for the duration of the Olympics. Utilizing this existing venue instead of building a new international-sized ice rink facility saved C$10 million in construction costs and allowed an additional 35,000 spectators to attend Olympic hockey games.[60] However, some European countries expressed concern over this decision, worried that it might give North American players an advantage since they grew up playing on the smaller NHL-sized rinks.[61] By contrast, the only other NHL venue to host Olympic hockey, theCalgary Flames'Olympic Saddledome, started construction before Calgary won the bid for the 1988 Winter Olympics and it was designed to accommodate an international ice rink.
There were a number of events that were proposed to be included in the 2010 Winter Olympics.[62] On November 28, 2006, the IOC Executive Board at their meeting inKuwait voted to includeski cross in the official program.[63] The Vancouver Olympic Committee (VANOC) subsequently approved the event to officially be part of the Games program.[64]
Events proposed for inclusion but ultimately rejected included:[65]
The issue over women's ski jumping being excluded ended up in theSupreme Court of British Columbia in Vancouver during April 21–24, 2009, with a verdict on July 10 excluding women's ski jumping from the 2010 Games.[66] A request to appeal that verdict to theSupreme Court of Canada was subsequently denied on December 22 – a decision that marked the end of any hopes that the event would be held during Vancouver 2010.[67] To alleviate the exclusion, VANOC organizers invited women from all over Canada to participate at Whistler Olympic Park, including Continental Cup in January 2009.[66] Women's ski jumping was included in the2014 Winter Olympics inSochi,Russia.
In the following calendar for the 2010 Winter Olympic Games, each blue box indicates that an event competition, such as a qualification round, was held on that day. The yellow boxes represent days during which medal-awarding finals for a sport were held with the number in these boxes representing the number of finals that were contested on that day.[68]
Some in the foreign press, including London 2012 organizers, had criticized the lack of city decorations to acknowledge that Vancouver was the host of the Games. The original plans to decorate the city in Olympic colours, a tradition followed by other recent Games host cities, were canceled for several reasons. Anti-Games activists repeatedly vandalized the existing 2010 Olympics monuments such as the countdown clock, forcing the city to install CCTV cameras, and adding more Games decorations would have inevitably required more security presence to deter protesters, so VANOC opted to minimize these symbols to avoid making the city a police state. Besides local opposition, budget cutbacks also forced the organizers to scale back on the elaborate plans.[69]
VANOC initially benefited from an economic boom and was able to secure lucrative and record domestic sponsorships, but this boom also resulted in rapidly rising construction and labour costs. Due to these factors, as well as theGreat Recession, VANOC built minimalistic functional venues with little aesthetic appeal though they were well-designed for post-Games usage. This approach, as well as the fact that most of the infrastructure already existed, meant that the direct costs of the Vancouver Games were much lower than recent Olympic games.[69]
Before the Games began and as they commenced, a number of concerns and controversies surfaced and received media attention. Hours before the opening ceremony, GeorgianlugerNodar Kumaritashvili was killed during a training run after being thrown out from his luge, intensifying questions about the safety of the course and prompting[70] organizers to implement quick modifications. Immediately after the accident, officials attributed it to an athlete error rather than a track deficiency.[71] TheInternational Luge Federation called an emergency meeting after the accident, and all other training runs were cancelled for the day.[72] The President of Georgia,Mikheil Saakashvili, thanked the hosts for the way that they handled Kumaritashvili's death which included a moment of silence, bringing his remains back to Georgia and a tribute to him at the opening ceremony.[73]
One critic[74]questioned the choice ofCypress Mountain as a venue because of its potential lack of snow due to the 2009-10El Niño. Because of this possibility, organizers had a contingency plan to truck in snow fromManning Park, about 250 kilometres (160 mi) to the east of the city. This allowed events to proceed as planned.[75]
Political decisions involving cancellation of promised low-income housing and the creation of a community of mixed economic backgrounds for post-Games use of theathletes' village was criticized.[76]
Opening ceremonies were stalled while organizers dealt with mechanical problems during the cauldron lighting ceremony.[77] Speed skating events were delayed due to breakdowns of theice resurfacers supplied by Olympia, an official sponsor of the Games.[78]
Thousands of tickets were voided by organizers when weather conditions made standing-room-only areas unsafe.[79] Visitors were also upset that, as in past Olympics, medal ceremonies required separate admission[79] and blocks of VIP tickets reserved for sponsors and dignitaries were unused at events.[80] Other glitches and complaints have included confusion by officials at the start of the February 16men's andwomen's biathlon pursuit races, and restricted access to the Olympic flame cauldron on the Vancouver waterfront.[81][82]
Some of the issues reflected in the opposition continue the themes identified in opposition to all Olympic games, some of which are outlined in anti-Olympics activist and Professor of Sociology Helen Jefferson Lenskyj's booksOlympic Industry Resistance (2007) andInside the Olympic Industry (2000), which examined a number of different Olympic Games prior to the 2010 Winter Olympics.[89]These issues of concern, underlying the opposition to any and all Olympic Games, include:
Although the Aboriginal governments of theSquamish,Musqueam,Lil'wat andTsleil-Waututh (the "Four Host First Nations"), on whose traditional territory the Games were held, signed a protocol in 2004[97] in support of the games,[98] there was opposition to the Olympics from someindigenous groups and supporters. Although theLil'wat branch of theSt'at'imc Nation is a co-host of the Games, a splinter group from theSeton band known as the St'at'imc of Sutikalh, who have also opposed the Cayoosh Ski Resort, feared the Olympics would bring unwanted tourism and real estate sales to their territory.[99][100]
Local aboriginal people, as well as CanadianInuit, initially expressed concern over the choice of aninukshuk as the symbol of the Games, with some Inuit leaders such as formerNunavut CommissionerPeter Irniq stating that the inukshuk is a culturally important symbol to them. He said that the "Inuit never build inuksuit with head, legs and arms. I have seen inuksuit [built] more recently, 100 years maybe by non-Inuit in Nunavut, with head, legs and arms. These are not called inuksuit. These are calledinunguat, imitation of man."[101] Local aboriginal groups also expressed annoyance that the design did not reflect theCoast Salish andInterior Salish native culture from the region the Games are being held in, but rather that of the Inuit, who are indigenous to the Arctic far from Vancouver.
On March 11, 2010, it was reported that the Polish cross country skierKornelia Marek was tested positive forEPO by thePolish Olympic Committee. If found guilty of doping by the International Olympic Committee, Marek and the relay teams would be disqualified and stripped of their Vancouver results. She would also be banned from thenext Winter Olympics inSochi,Russia, in 2014.
Marek denied taking any banned substances, but the backup "B" sample from the Vancouver doping lab confirmed the "A" sample.[102]
On October 9, 2017, the IOC announced that three positive doping cases had been found from their re-analysis programme from the 2010 games. All three cases belonged to the same athlete, whose identity was not released at the time. The IOC had re-tested 1,195 urine samples from the games out of the 1,710 taken, which equates to 70%, as part of their re-analysis programme.[103]Weeks later, the athlete was confirmed to be Slovenian biathleteTeja Gregorin.[104]
The massive celebratory crowds in downtown Vancouver were highly praised by the IOC.Jacques Rogge, the president of IOC, indicated that "the way Vancouver embraced these Games was extraordinary. This is really something unique and has given a great atmosphere for these Games."[105][106] The atmosphere surrounding the Olympics, and its inclusion of foreign delegates and guests, was also praised, with many seasoned Winter Olympic observers putting the games at, or near, the top of the list of best ever Winter Olympics.[107] They were also the best watched Winter Olympics since the1994 Olympics in Lillehammer.[108] They are also mentioned alongside theSydney 2000 Summer games in regards to the best atmosphere. A large part is credited to the citizens of Vancouver, British Columbia and Canada.[109]
Some members of the media (mostly, and particularly theBritish media) criticized the Own the Podium and criticized the celebrations as having been somewhat nationalistic,[110][111] but this was not an opinion shared by many. Some suggested that the British media were making these criticisms in order to make the upcoming2012 Summer Olympics more appealing.[112] LordSebastian Coe, chairman of the2012 London Olympic Games Organizing Committee, attended the Vancouver Olympics to see how the city coped with the challenges of hosting. Lord Coe noted the Games had "gradually recovered from its tumultuous start" and queried that he "never thought the British would find rivals in their preoccupation with the weather which is almost elevated to an Olympic event" as he creditedVANOC for meeting unforeseen challenges such as the unseasonably warm weather of Cypress Mountain. Coe added "Rarely have I seen a host city so passionate and so ready to embrace the Games".[73][113]
The Vancouver Olympics also organized and hosted the firstPride House forLGBT athletes in the history of the event.[114][115][116]
Directly as a result of Canada's medal performance at the 2010 Olympics, theGovernment of Canada announced in the2010 federal budget, a new commitment of $34 million over the next two years towards programs for athletes planning to compete in future Olympics.[117] This is in addition to the $11 million per year federal government commitment to theOwn the Podium program.
Also, as a result of hosting the 2010 Olympics, theBritish Columbia government pledged to restore funding for sports programs and athlete development to 2008 levels, which amounts to $30 million over three years.[118]
Unlike at previous Games, all new venues were designed with their post-Games use in mind. TheRichmond Olympic Oval was converted from a speed skating oval into an indoor multi-sports centre,[119] theHillcrest Centre is now a multi-purposecommunity centre with hockey rink and swimming pool[120] andWhistler Olympic Park is used for public recreation, athlete training, and competition events.[121]
A. Miga and Quatchi were mascots for the Olympic Games, while Sumi was the mascot for the Paralympic Games. Mukmuk is considered asidekick, not a full mascot.
^"Kari Peters bleibt zu Hause" [Kari Peters stays at home] (in German). wort.lu. January 19, 2010. Archived fromthe original on February 20, 2010. RetrievedFebruary 7, 2010.
^abspiegelonline sport (February 18, 2010)."Möge das Wirrwarr gewinnen".Der Spiegel (in German).Archived from the original on February 19, 2010. RetrievedFebruary 18, 2010.
Monnin, Éric (2014).De Chamonix à Sotchi: Un siècle d'olympisme en hiver [From Chamonix to Sochi: A Century of Olympism in Winter] (in French). Paris: DESIRIS.ISBN978-2-36403-066-4.
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