Opening Ceremony of 2010 winter Olympics, Vancouver
The Opening Ceremony is of historic importance, the biggest chance to speak to a global audience and tell the stories of Olympics that would inspire the whole world. As has become an Olympic tradition, the Opening Ceremony of 2010 winter Olympics was held on February 12 at BC Place Stadium in Vancouver. The Olympics got off to a sad start when on the opening day Nudar Kumaritashvili died in a tragic accident during practice.
The Opening was sponsored by the Vancouver Organizing Committee (VANOC). Governor General Michaellean, representative of Elizabeth 2, Queen of Canada, officially opened it. There is an estimate that 60,000 people were present at the Venue including 4,500 performers. The Opening Ceremony consisted of cultural component, the Parade of Nations, speeches and the lighting of Cauldron.
Approximately 2,600 athletes from 82 nations participated in 86 events in fifteen disciplines. The Olympic Games in Vancouver were broadcasted worldwide by a number of television broadcasters. The Winter Olympic Games put Vancouver in the spotlight as a premier sporting destination because of its beautiful Venues. Fifteen winter sports were a part of 2010 Olympics. These sports were held in Vancouver, Richmond, Callaghan Valley, Whistler Mountain, Cypress Mountain and Blackcomb Mountain. The winter Olympic involved a number of sports and were categorized into three main categories (1) ice sports (2) Alpine skiing and snowboarding events and (3) Nordic events.
The feature sports were held on ice including cross country skiing, figure skating, ice hockey, speed skating, luge, short track speed skating, bobsled and freestyle skiing. Vancouver 2010 was the first winter Olympics in history in which both men and women Hockey were played on a narrower. Ice Hockey was the most anticipated Olympic sport in winter 2010. The spectators watched eight women’s team and twelve men’s team competing on the ice.
Snowboarding also got the people’s attention on Cypress Mountain. People loved to watch the Alpine, Freestyle, Cross country and Ski Jumping competitions. The Canadians were favourite on the home ice at Curling in Vancouver. The Excited audiences in Canada added a buzz to the competition. Figure skating, a sport of speed and grace, draw people’s attention. 24 Ice Dance teams, 20 pair’s team, 30 men and 30 ladies competed at Vancouver and won people’s hearts.
American Skier Lindsey Vonn won a gold medal in the ladies Super G and set a new record. For the first time Canada won gold for the Olympic games hosted in their own country, the United States won the most medals and broke the record for the most medals won at a single winter Olympic. Germany stood second. Slovakia and Belarus Athletes won the first Gold Medals for their home Countries. Norway, Austria, Russia, Korea, China, Sweden and France also won a number of medals.
The 2010 winter Olympics at Vancouver was an experience of a lifetime and was generally accepted by the world’s media as a success in creating a positive and lively atmosphere for athletic competition and achievement. As per tradition, it ended with an elaborate Closing Ceremony. It was a unique, large scale celebration capturing the spirit and personality of Canada and was a celebration of the world’s greatest athletes. It was held at the same BC Place Stadium on February 28, 2010. After 17 days of enthusiastic and interesting athletic competitions, Canada says Goodbye and Congratulations to the top winter athletes of the world.
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