The Utah Olympic Oval is an indoor speed skating oval located 14 miles (23 km) southwest of Salt Lake City , in Kearns, Utah . The Oval was built for the 2002 Winter Olympics and it hosted the long-track speed skating events for the 2002 games , a role it is expected reprise for the 2034 Winter Olympics .
82-473: Inside the facility the 400 meter skating track surrounds two international sized ice sheets, and is itself surrounded by a 442-meter running track . Due to its high altitude, 4,675 feet (1,425 m), and the associated low air resistance, ten Olympic records and nine world records were set at the Oval during the 2002 games, the largest number of world records ever set at one event. Along with Soldier Hollow and
164-519: A competitive running track is 400 m (1,312.3 ft). Some tracks are not built to this specification, instead being a legacy to imperial distances such as 440 yd (402.336 m), equivalent to a quarter of a mile. Prior to rule changes in 1979, distances in Imperial units were still used in the United States. Some facilities build tracks to fit the available space, with one of
246-573: A concession, gifts and gear shop, plus skate rentals. Skating lessons are also offered by the foundation. The U.S. Olympic Speedskating Team is currently headquartered in the oval, and has been since January 2001. In 2024, the south sheet was converted to serve as the temporary practice rink for the Utah Hockey Club of the NHL while a permanent facility at the Shops at South Town in nearby Sandy
328-410: A consistent surface for competitors to test their athletic ability unencumbered by adverse weather conditions. Historically, various forms of dirt, rocks, sand, and crushed cinders were used. Many examples of these varieties of track still exist worldwide. Starting in 1954, artificial surfaces using a combination of rubber and asphalt began to appear. An artificial warm-up track was constructed for
410-803: A higher standard, making a Mondotrack one of the most expensive systems to use. Examples of Mondotracks were used for the 1996 Summer Olympics (since removed from the Centennial Olympic Stadium ) in Atlanta , Georgia , United States; 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens , Greece ; 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing , China; 2012 Summer Olympics in London , United Kingdom and the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro , Brazil . Another player in
492-751: A preferred radius for the turns at 37 metres, but also allows a range. Major international level meets are conducted and world records can be set on tracks that are not exactly 37 meters, provided they fall within the legal range. 2010 Winter Olympics The 2010 Winter Olympics , officially known as the XXI Olympic Winter Games ( French : XXI Jeux olympiques d'hiver ) and also known as Vancouver 2010 ( Squamish : K'emk'emeláy̓ 2010 ), were an international winter multi-sport event held from February 12 to 28, 2010 in Vancouver , British Columbia , Canada , with some events held in
574-516: 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 by VANOC and 3rd parties added $ 1.22 billion to the economy, far short of the $ 10 billion forecast by Premier Gordon Campbell . The study also said that hosting the Olympics was one of many reasons why
656-407: 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
738-708: A week-long Anti-Olympic Convergence, protesters smashed windows of the Downtown Vancouver location of The Hudson's Bay department store . Protesters later argued that the Hudson's Bay Company , "has been a symbol of colonial oppression for centuries" as well as a major sponsor of the 2010 Olympics. 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 books Olympic Industry Resistance (2007) and Inside
820-485: A wet spring, cement for the oval could not be poured, and the oval didn't open until September 1, 1995, almost a year behind schedule. The oval was formally dedicated in a ceremony, attended by Olympian Cathy Turner , on January 12, 1996. Prior to it being covered and used during the Olympic games, the oval would be used for inline skating during the summer and ice skating during the winter months. After Salt Lake City won
902-416: Is a map of the participating nations and a list of the nations with the number of competitors indicated in brackets. 2,626 athletes from 82 NOCs participated in the 2010 Winter Olympics. The 2010 Winter Olympics featured 86 events over 15 disciplines in 7 sports. Numbers in parentheses indicate the number of medal events contested in each separate discipline. The opening and closing ceremonies and
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#1732775453848984-422: Is being built. The rink was narrowed from Olympic size to 200ft x 85ft, the standard measurement for NHL ice, and a team base was built in an unused area of the building. The oval is one of the world's fastest indoor skating tracks, mainly because of its elevation. It is the world's highest indoor oval at 4,675 feet (1,425 m) above sea level, 1,000 feet (300 m) higher than Calgary's Olympic Oval , site of
1066-435: Is called Mondotrack . The surface differs from the particles stuck in adhesion techniques, in that they are more of a rubber carpet, cut to size then tightly seamed together (in the linear direction along the lane lines). This form of construction gives a more consistent bounce (or energy return) and traction. Because of the tight fit specifications required for manufacture, construction surrounding these sites also has to be of
1148-466: Is highlighted. Host country (Canada) To sort this table by nation, total medal count, or any other column, click on the [REDACTED] icon next to the column title. 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,
1230-677: 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. It then traveled from Greece , over the North Pole to Canada's High Arctic and on to
1312-468: The 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne , Australia. During the 1960s many of these tracks were constructed; examples still exist today. In the mid-1960s Tartan tracks were developed, surfaced with a product by 3M . The name Tartan is a trademark, but it is sometimes used as a genericized trademark . This process was the first to commercialize a polyurethane surface for running tracks, though it
1394-444: The 1988 Winter Olympics (which is the second highest). Because of the elevation, there is less air resistance for the skaters and less oxygen frozen into the ice, making it harder, denser and faster. During the 2002 Olympic games all ten speed skating events held in the oval set Olympic records. The oval still maintains six, thanks in part to the relatively low elevation of the 2006 , 2010 , and 2014 Olympic Ovals. Before and after
1476-684: The Integrated Security Unit , of which the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) was the lead agency; other government agencies such as the Vancouver Police Department , Canada Border Services Agency , Canadian Forces , and police agencies across Canada . The Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) also played a role. That number was later revealed to be in the region of C$ 1 billion, an amount in excess of five times what
1558-668: The Olympic flag during the closing ceremony of the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin , Italy. The flag was raised in a special ceremony on February 28, 2006, and was on display at Vancouver City Hall until the Vancouver opening ceremony . The event was officially opened by Governor General Michaëlle Jean , accompanied by the Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper and International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Jacques Rogge . Vancouver 2010
1640-844: The Utah Olympic Park , the Utah Olympic Oval was built specifically for the 2002 Winter Olympics. On October 5, 1992, the Utah Sports Authority chose the Oquirrh Park Fitness Center in Kearns as the site for the 2002 Olympic Oval, beating out other locations in West Valley City , Sandy and downtown Salt Lake City . Funds from the 1989 Olympic referendum would be used to construct the oval, and would be repaid with profits from
1722-605: The Vancouver Organizing Committee (VANOC), headed by John Furlong . The 2010 Winter Games were the third Olympics to be hosted by Canada, and the first to be held within the province of British Columbia. Canada had hosted the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal , Quebec, and the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary , Alberta. Following Olympic tradition, incumbent Vancouver mayor Sam Sullivan received
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#17327754538481804-720: The Whistler Blackcomb ski resort, the Whistler Olympic Park , the Whistler Celebration Plaza and the Whistler 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
1886-445: The ice resurfacers supplied by Olympia, an official sponsor of the Games. Thousands of tickets were voided by organizers when weather conditions made standing-room-only areas unsafe. Visitors were also upset that, as in past Olympics, medal ceremonies required separate admission and blocks of VIP tickets reserved for sponsors and dignitaries were unused at events. Other glitches and complaints have included confusion by officials at
1968-472: The ongoing recession , and NBC projected a financial loss upwards of $ 250 million on the Games. Due to the growth of social media , NBC faced particular criticism for its traditional practice of tape 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 the Pacific Time Zone . In April 2010,
2050-540: The 2002 Olympic bid on June 16, 1995, Salt Lake Organizing Committee (SLOC) began the design process for a permanent cover for the oval. During the cover's design process it was decided to pull up and replace the entire original oval. The new oval was designed by Gilles Stransky Brems Smith of Salt Lake City, and constructed by Layton Construction. Work on the new oval began in June 1999 at an estimated cost of $ 27 million. To keep those costs down, and give an unobstructed view of
2132-521: The 2010 Games. A request to appeal that verdict to the Supreme 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. To alleviate the exclusion, VANOC organizers invited women from all over Canada to participate at Whistler Olympic Park, including Continental Cup in January 2009. Women's ski jumping
2214-750: 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 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, which later won
2296-539: The NHL's Vancouver 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. 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
2378-579: The Olympic Committee, more than double the viewership of the preceding Turin 2006 games and triple the available coverage of Salt 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." Vancouver 2010's gold medal final between Canada and USA "was the most watched hockey game ever with viewership of 114 million viewers around
2460-569: The Olympics, the oval has hosted many local and international speed skating competitions. Holding the honor of Fastest Ice on Earth has created an unofficial rivalry between the Utah Olympic Oval and the Calgary Olympic Oval , although the Utah oval holds 11 world records and Calgary only 1. Running track An all-weather running track is a rubberized, artificial running surface for track and field athletics. It provides
2542-511: The Utah Olympic Oval was 10 percent the cost of the Richmond Olympic Oval used during the 2010 Winter Olympics . The oval hosted the long-track speed skating events during the 2002 Winter Olympics . For the competitions, temporary seating was installed and the oval had a capacity for about 5,200 spectators, plus press members. All available tickets for the venue's events were sold, allowing 53,056 spectators to witness events in
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2624-537: The Venue Energy Tracker project. 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 the 2012 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 unit Olympic Broadcasting Services (OBS). The 2010 Olympics marked
2706-527: 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. Luxembourg qualified two athletes but did not participate because one did not reach the criteria set by the NOC and the other was injured before the Games. Below
2788-797: 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 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. Celebrity torchbearers included Arnold Schwarzenegger , Steve Nash , Matt Lauer , Justin Morneau , Michael Bublé , Bob Costas , Shania Twain , and hockey greats including Sidney Crosby , Wayne Gretzky , and
2870-741: The Winter Games (37), a record held until then by Germany in 2002 (36). Athletes from Slovakia and Belarus won the first Winter Olympic gold medals for their nations. The concept of a bid by Vancouver to host the Winter Olympic Games first appeared at the 1960 Games in Squaw Valley , where the Canadian representative of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Sidney Dawes discusses
2952-581: 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, 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 had 25 and Calgary had 21. On December 3, 1998, the second and final round of voting occurred between
3034-403: The ad revenue generated from an AP-produced multi-media package of video, photos, statistics, stories and a daily Webcast. AP's coverage included a microsite with web widgets facilitating integration with social networking and bookmarking services . In France, the Games were covered by France Télévisions , which included continuous live coverage on its website. The Olympic Torch Relay
3116-417: The appropriate conditions. The completed facility contained the 400-meter oval skating track, which surrounded two international size hockey ice sheets. Under the ice sheets and track are 33 miles (53 km) of freeze tubes which keep the concrete base at 18 °F (−8 °C) year-round. In the end the oval ended up costing $ 30 million, and on his blog, ex-SLOC CEO and politician, Mitt Romney states that
3198-645: The captains of the two Vancouver Canucks teams that went to the Stanley Cup Finals : Trevor Linden ( 1994 ) and Stan Smyl ( 1982 ). 82 National Olympic Committees (NOC) entered teams in the 2010 Winter Olympics. Cayman Islands, Colombia, Ghana, Montenegro, Pakistan, Peru and Serbia made their winter Olympic debuts. Morocco returned to the Winter games after a 18-year absence, and Jamaica and Mexico returned after 8 years. Seven countries, Costa Rica, Kenya, Luxembourg, Madagascar, Thailand, Venezuela and
3280-512: The cities of Calgary and Banff , in Alberta , as the best opportunity for a Canadian bid to succeed. Calgary's candidacy ultimately failed, and the 1968 Games were awarded to Grenoble . A development program for the Whistler and Mount Garibaldi region was then launched to host the 1972 Games . It included the development of road infrastructure, electrical network and drinking water, which
3362-597: The city a police state. Besides local opposition, budget cutbacks also forced the organizers to scale back on the elaborate plans. 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 the Great Recession , VANOC built minimalistic functional venues with little aesthetic appeal though they were well-designed for post-Games usage. This approach, as well as
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3444-443: The duration of the Games since corporate sponsorship is not allowed for an Olympic venue. Renovations included the removal of advertising from the ice surface and conversion of some seating to accommodate the media. The 2010 Winter Olympics marked the first time an Olympic hockey game was played on a rink sized according to NHL rules instead of international specifications. Competition venues in Whistler included Whistler Creekside at
3526-443: The east of the city. This allowed events to proceed as planned. Political decisions involving cancellation of promised low-income housing and the creation of a community of mixed economic backgrounds for post-Games use of the athletes' village was criticized. Opening ceremonies were stalled while organizers dealt with mechanical problems during the cauldron lighting ceremony. Speed skating events were delayed due to breakdowns of
3608-673: 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 on Whistler Mountain (Creekside) and sliding events (bobsleigh, luge and skeleton) were held on Blackcomb Mountain . Cypress Mountain (located in Cypress Provincial Park in West Vancouver ) hosted
3690-413: The facility was held. Members of SLOC with the design and construction teams were present to introduce the oval to the public. The completed building has 275,000 square feet (25,500 m), roughly the size of four football fields, it is 310 feet (94 m) wide by 655 feet (200 m) long, with a ceiling 55 feet (17 m) high; the low ceiling allowed the temperature inside to be easily maintained at
3772-518: 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. Before the Games began and as they commenced, a number of concerns and controversies surfaced and received media attention. Hours before the opening ceremony, Georgian luger Nodar Kumaritashvili was killed during a training run after being thrown out from his luge, intensifying questions about
3854-616: The first Games where the host broadcasting facilities were provided solely by OBS. The executive director of Olympic Broadcasting Services Vancouver was Nancy Lee , a former producer and executive for CBC Sports . The official broadcast theme was a piece called "City of Ice" composed by Rob May and Simon Hill . In Canada, the Games were the first Olympic Games broadcast by a new Olympic Broadcast Media Consortium led by CTVglobemedia and Rogers Media , displacing previous broadcaster CBC Sports . Main English-language coverage
3936-464: The first host nation since Norway in 1952 to lead the gold medal count. Canada broke the record for the most gold medals won at a single Winter Olympics (14), which had been set by the Soviet Union in 1976 and Norway in 2002 (13). The United 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
4018-521: 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, 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 at General Motors Place (now Rogers Arena), home of
4100-527: The games. The plans called for using $ 3.7 million of tax payer money to construct the oval, which would be an outdoor facility. If Salt Lake City won its 1995 bid for the 2002 games, Olympic funds would be used to cover the oval, and build an ice sheet in the center of the track. By the time the groundbreaking ceremony was held in May 1994, the price tag had increased to $ 4.1 million, with an expected completion date sometime that December. Because of cold temperatures and
4182-492: The governing body for international track and field competitions, publishes very specific regulations for the conduct of Global Championship or International level track meets under their jurisdiction. Since the early 1980s, the manufacturer of the surfaces selected for most championship meets has been the Italian company, Mondo , again the trademarked brand name becoming used as a genericized trademark. Mondo's track surface
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#17327754538484264-511: The ice might not freeze evenly. After a new floor was poured, and had cured, the final coat of ice was added to the track on February 12, 2001; just in time for four Olympic speed skaters to test out the new venue later that afternoon. The first event held in the new oval was the World Single Distance Championships , on March 9–11, 2001. On March 9, 2001, the first day of competitions, a press briefing to introduce
4346-407: The ice, the roof would be constructed similar to a suspension bridge . Between twenty-four masts, twelve on each side of the building, steel cables nearly 400 feet (120 m) long and 3.5 inches (89 mm) in diameter were strung, suspending the roof above the oval. On April 19, 2000, as construction was progressing on the oval, some of the bolts holding the roof's cables sheared, causing part of
4428-747: The marketplace is the formerly BASF -owned company Conica, based in Switzerland, now part of the Serafin Group (Munich, Germany), which can boast the 2009 World Championships in Athletics in Berlin , Germany (where Usain Bolt improved his 100 metres and 200 metres world records), along with other record hosting venues like Stadio Olimpico in Rome , Italy. The proper length of the first lane of
4510-461: The most notable examples of this being Franklin Field , where the 400 metre distance is achieved in lane 4. Olympic tracks in the early 20th century were of other lengths: each lane of the track could (by IAAF rules should) be as wide as 122 cm (4.00 ft), though the majority of American tracks are built to NFHS high school specifications that allow smaller lanes. The IAAF also specifies
4592-469: The network reported a financial loss of $ 233 million on the Games. The Associated Press (AP) announced that it would send 120 reporters, photographers, editors and videographers to cover the Games on behalf of the country's news media . The cost of their Olympics coverage prompted AP to make a "real departure for the wire service 's online coverage". Rather than simply providing content, it partnered with more than 900 newspapers and broadcasters who split
4674-410: The official program. The Vancouver Olympic Committee (VANOC) subsequently approved the event to officially be part of the Games program. Events proposed for inclusion but ultimately rejected included: The issue over women's ski jumping being excluded ended up in the Supreme Court of British Columbia in Vancouver during April 21–24, 2009, with a verdict on July 10 excluding women's ski jumping from
4756-662: The oval. It is slated to again host long-track speed skating events during the 2034 Winter Olympics . Following the 2002 Olympics, SLOC turned ownership of the oval over to the Utah Athletic Foundation, who also owns and manages the Utah Olympic Park near Park City . The oval currently houses the original 400-meter oval skating track, two international size ice sheets, a 442-meter running track , an eight-lane 110-meter sprint running track, weight room, locker facilities and team rooms, meeting rooms,
4838-652: The possibility of hosting a Games in British Columbia if a venue was found near Vancouver. Shortly afterwards, the Garibaldi Olympic Development Association (GODA) was created in order to prepare a bid to host the Winter Games in the region of Mount Garibaldi , near Whistler . In 1961, GODA considered developing a bid for the 1968 Winter Games , but the Canadian Olympic Committee (COC) preferred
4920-523: The product and selling it for this first use in the Olympics. An all-weather surface has become standard ever since. Another Tartan track was installed on a temporary basis for the 1968 United States Olympic Trials held at altitude at Echo Summit , California , before being moved to South Tahoe Middle School , where it survived for almost 40 years. There are other techniques that distribute small chunks of rubber then adhere them in place with various polyurethane or latex substances. World Athletics ,
5002-413: 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. In 2011, the provincial auditor-general declined to conduct a post-Games audit. C$ 200 million was expected to be spent for security, which was organized through a special body,
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#17327754538485084-578: The rights of hosting both 2018 Winter Olympics and 2024 Winter Youth Olympics (as a part of the Gangwon 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's 2008 Summer Olympic bid
5166-486: The roof to collapse. Following an investigation into the cause of the accident and repairs, construction resumed in July 2000. Construction on the oval was further delayed when three weeks after the concrete floor was poured, the freeze tubes in numerous spots were found to have moved off their rebar supports and had floated out of alignment. It was determined that entire floor was going to have to be torn up and replaced, or else
5248-538: The rules of the bidding process were changed in 1999. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) created the Evaluation Commission, which was appointed on October 24, 2002. Prior to the bidding for the 2008 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
5330-405: The safety of the course and prompting organizers to implement quick modifications. Immediately after the accident, officials attributed it to an athlete error rather than a track deficiency. The International Luge Federation called an emergency meeting after the accident, and all other training runs were cancelled for the day. The President of Georgia, Mikheil Saakashvili , thanked the hosts for
5412-663: The smaller NHL-sized rinks. By contrast, the only other NHL venue to host Olympic hockey, the Calgary 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. On November 28, 2006, the IOC Executive Board at their meeting in Kuwait voted to include ski cross in
5494-439: The start of the February 16 men's and women's biathlon pursuit races, and restricted access to the Olympic flame cauldron on the Vancouver waterfront. Opposition to the Olympic Games was expressed by activists and politicians, including Lower Mainland mayors Derek Corrigan and Richard Walton . Many of the public pre-Olympic events held in Vancouver were attended by protesters . On Saturday, February 13, as part of
5576-442: The surrounding suburbs of Richmond , West Vancouver and the University of British Columbia , and in the nearby resort town of Whistler . It was regarded by the Olympic Committee to be among the most successful Olympic games in history, in both attendance and coverage. Approximately 2,600 athletes from 82 nations participated in 86 events in fifteen disciplines. Both the Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games were organized by
5658-470: The two leading contenders, which saw Vancouver win with 40 votes compared to Quebec City's 32 votes. Vancouver had also bid for the 1976 games, which were first awarded to Denver, then to Innsbruck and the 1980 games, which were awarded to Lake Placid. After the bribery 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), many of
5740-444: 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. One critic questioned the choice of Cypress Mountain as a venue because of its potential lack of snow due to the 2009-10 El Niño . Because of this possibility, organizers had a contingency plan to truck in snow from Manning Park , about 250 kilometres (160 mi) to
5822-438: The world." For the first time, Canada won gold in an official 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 a demonstration sport ). 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
5904-810: Was 7.1 °C (44.8 °F) for the month of February 2010. The opening and closing ceremonies were held at BC Place Stadium , which received over C$ 150 million in major renovations. Competition venues in Greater Vancouver included the Pacific Coliseum , the Vancouver Olympic/Paralympic Centre , the UBC Winter Sports Centre , the Richmond Olympic Oval and Cypress Mountain . GM Place, now known as Rogers Arena , played host to ice hockey events, being renamed Canada Hockey Place for
5986-439: Was completed on time and at least one year prior to the Games. 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 or US$ 1,314,307,896). As of mid-2009 it was projected to be C$ 1.76 billion, mostly raised from non-government sources, primarily through sponsorships and the auction of national broadcasting rights. C$ 580 million
6068-526: Was defeated by Beijing in a landslide vote. The Vancouver Olympic Committee (VANOC) spent C$ 16.6 million on upgrading facilities at Cypress Mountain , which hosted the freestyle (aerials, moguls, ski cross) and snowboarding events. With the opening in February 2009 of the C$ 40 ;million Vancouver Olympic/Paralympic Centre at Hillcrest Park , which hosted curling, every sports venue for the 2010 Games
6150-441: 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." Vancouver 2010 also achieved record global television coverage as per
6232-566: Was included in the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi , 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. The top ten listed NOCs by number of gold medals are listed below. The host nation, Canada,
6314-512: Was originally conceived for horse racing. Many Tartan tracks were installed worldwide, including at many of the top universities in the United States. Among that list was a Tartan track installed in the Estadio Olímpico Universitario , home of the 1968 Summer Olympics at Mexico City , which were the first global championships to use such a track. Olympic shot put champion Bill Nieder was instrumental in developing
6396-510: Was originally estimated. Some venues, including the Richmond Olympic Oval , were at sea level, a rarity for the Winter Games. The 2010 Games were also the first—Winter or Summer—to have had an Opening Ceremony held indoors. Greater Vancouver was the most populous metropolitan area ever to hold the Winter Games. In February, the month when the Games were held, Vancouver has an average temperature of 4.8 °C (40.6 °F). The average temperature as measured at Vancouver International Airport
6478-480: Was selected to host the 1976 Summer Olympics , and the Vancouver-Garibaldi candidacy was thus eliminated in the first round of voting. Vancouver was again a candidate for the 1980 Games , but withdrew at the last moment. For the 1988 Winter Olympics , Calgary was chosen as the preferred site for the Canadian bid, and would go on to win the election and thus become the first Canadian city to host
6560-586: Was shown on the CTV Television Network , while supplementary programming was mainly shown on TSN and Rogers Sportsnet . Main French-language coverage was shown on V and RDS . 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 the 2012 Summer Olympics . Advertising sales had slowed in comparison to previous Olympics due to
6642-581: Was still absent in this region. But once again, Banff was chosen to represent Canada as the potential host city for the 1972 Games, which were eventually awarded to Sapporo , Japan . In 1968, the GODA was finally chosen by the Canadian Olympic Committee with the aim of making a joint candidacy with the city of Vancouver for the organization of the 1976 Winter Olympics . However, the chances of Vancouver's candidacy dwindled when Montreal
6724-480: Was the taxpayer-supported budget to construct or renovate venues throughout Vancouver and Whistler . A final audit conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers 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. PricewaterhouseCoopers' study estimated
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