2010 Winter Olympics

Vancouver and Whistler and the 2010 Winter Olympic Games
Vancouver has a unique culture and is the perfect setting for the 2010 Winter Olympic Games. This city has been consistently voted as the most liveable city in the world. This is a spectacularly special and pleasant place to host this extraordinary spectacle of athleticism. The city has easy access to the shoreline and the Coast Mountains and the slopes at Whistler will be hosting some of the events. The exciting night life, extraordinary facilities and amazing cuisine make this city an ideal host for these games.
Vancouver as a city has an amalgamation of different cultures and languages. Different languages like German, French, Chinese and Japanese are spoken by the immigrant population. This city also has different art galleries and museums that reflect the multiculturalism of this city. Vancouver is also an extremely clean city, is easily accessible and the excellent infrastructure and the effective transit facilities make this an ideal host for this sporting event.
The different events in this sporting competition will be held in different locations. Icy Hockey will be held at GM Place which is home to the Vancouver Canucks from the NHL. Figure Skating and the short track speed skating will be held at a well known site in Vancouver – The Pacific Coliseum.  It has been specially renovated for these games and has the capacity to hold as many as 14,000 guests. The classic building has been given a complete face lift and the cost of the renovation is around $20 million. The Curling and the wheelchair curling competition will be held in the Vancouver Olympic/Paralympic Centre. This centre was completed during the fall of 2008 and can hold around 6,000 people. The contemporary art of First nations, Inuit cultures and Metis cultures will be featured in this centre along with some aboriginal art.
The Ice Sledge Hockey competition will be held in the UBC Thunderbird Arena and this has a 7,200 capacity.
The freestyle skiing and snowboarding events will be help on the Cypress Mountain. This area is located just 30 minutes from downtown Vancouver and provides a unique view of the harbour and the city.
The Speed Skating event will be held at the Richmond Olympic Oval. This venue has been built specially for this event and is a 33,750 square metre facility and with a breathtaking hardwood ceiling constructed out of B.C wood.
The alpine skiing event will be held in the area of the Whistler Resort on the “Creekside”. The Dave Murray downhill trail will be hosting the men’s event of alpine skiing. The Franz’ Run will be hosting the women’s new course along with the Paralympic event. The athletes can enjoy brilliant views and fast terrain from the mountain top. The Bobsleigh and Luge and skeleton events will be help on the track on the Whistler Sliding Centre on Blackcomb Mountain.
Events like Ski Jumping, Nordic Combines, Cross country skiing and Biathlon will be held in three different stadiums in the Whistler Olympic park and this park has 15 kms of Nordic trails having 30 lanes and electronic targeting systems. The Paralympic venue also uses parts of the trails for the cross country skiing and biathlon event.
A unique feature of the 2010 Winter Games is the fact that these will be held in traditional and shared territories. These territories include Musqueam, Lil’wat along with Tsleil-Waututh First Nations also called the Four Host First Nations. The Four Host First Nations will also have an Aboriginal Pavilion and this will be located in downtown Vancouver in the Queen Elizabeth Theatre Plaza and this will allow Canada to display the culture of the Aboriginal people to the world. The Vancouver 2010 mascots are characters that are drawn from the First Nations legends and the emblem is an ancient symbol that belongs to the Inuit culture.
Vancouver and Whistler, where the 2010 Winter Olympic Games will be held will have large drove of visitors for this competition. The tourists can not only enjoy the athletes put up brilliant performances but they can also enjoy the multiple destinations that these cities have to offer. The white capped mountains will play host to numerous events. The highlight of this competition is perhaps the Sea to sky highway which is being expanded in time for the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. This highway will enable people to travel easily from the Vancouver region to Whistler for the Olympic Games. The opening ceremony to be held in the BC place is expected to be a spectacle and real treat for the audience.