Thunderbird Skating Rink

Vancouver will host the 2010 Winter Olympics. After waiting four years, hundreds of competitors from around the world, the battle for precious gold medals in sports ranging from skiing to ice hockey, bobsled and biathlon. Winter sports fans, athletes and international media descend on the city for three weeks of dramatic action. The world-class resort Whistler Blackcomb Mountain hosts the popular ski-alpine and high adrenaline "slip" events such as luge and bobsleigh. latest sports like freestyle skiing and snowboarding at Cypress Mountain take over in Cypress Provincial Park.

You do not even need to leave the confines of the city to watch ice hockey and skating, with events in Canada Hockey Place, UBC Thunderbird Arena and the Pacific Coliseum at Hastings Park. Away from the slopes and rinks, competitors of the Cultural Olympiad presents dozens of concerts, new art projects and other entertainment.

The 2010 Olympic Games, officially known as the XXI Olympic Winter Games or the 21st Winter Olympics will be held on 12-28 Feb. 2010, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, with events place in the resort town of Whistler and Richmond, a suburb of Vancouver. Both the Olympic and Paralympic Games are organized by the Vancouver Organizing Committee (VANOC). The 2010 Olympics will be the third Olympics hosted by Canada, and the first by the province of British Columbia. Previously, Canada has hosted the Summer Olympics of 1976 in Montreal, Quebec and the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary, Alberta.

Next Olympic tradition, then Vancouver Mayor Sam Sullivan received the Olympic flag at the closing ceremony of the Winter Olympics 2006 in Turin, Italy. The flag has been hoisted on February 28, 2006, during a special ceremony, and will be exhibited at Vancouver City Hall until the opening ceremony of the Olympics. The event will be inaugurated by Governor General Michaelle Jean.

Some sites, including the Richmond Olympic Oval, are at sea level, a rarity for the Winter Games. The 2010 Games will be the first winter or summer to have an opening ceremony indoors. Vancouver, which is the most populous city in addition to hosting the Winter Games, will also be the hottest: in February, when the Games take place in Vancouver has an average temperature of 4.8 ° C (40.6 F).

The Opening and Closing Ceremonies will be held at BC Place Stadium, which has received more than 150 million dollars in renovations. The competition venues in Greater Vancouver include the Pacific Coliseum, Vancouver Olympic / Paralympic Centre, the UBC Winter Sports Centre, Olympic Oval in Richmond and Cypress Mountain. GM Square will host ice hockey events, but because corporate sponsorship is not allowed for an Olympic site, it will be renamed the Canada Hockey Place for the duration of the Games. Improvements include the elimination of advertising of the ice surface and the conversion of some seats to accommodate the media. The competition venues in Whistler ski resort includes Whistler Blackcomb, Whistler Olympic Park Sliding Centre and Whistler.

The Olympic Games of 2010 will mark the first time since the National Hockey League (NHL) has allowed his players to the Olympics (in 1998) that the Olympics are in a market in the NHL. To avoid conflict between commitments to their teams player of Olympic hockey and NHL teams, the league will not play during the 2010 Olympics and the season schedule has been compressed. In addition, the Vancouver team the NHL, the Canucks will be moved to Canada Hockey Place, their arena. Accordingly, the Canucks are facing the longest distance traveled by road in the NHL history with 14 games over six weeks, from January 27 to March 13, 2010.