10 Things That We Will Remember About The 2010 Vancouver Olympics

Ten things that we'll remember about the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Games.

1. It opened with a death: The name of a 21-year-old Georgian luger will forever be linked with Vancouver 2010. When Nodar Kumaritashvili flew off the 16th curve at a speed of 143.6 km/h (89.2 mph) he hit a steel pilon, and died. Kumaritashvili had confided to his father he feared the bend, nicknamed 50-50 by a fellow luger on account of its difficulty. VANOC and the International Luge Federation (FIL) concluded: "The athlete came late out of curve 15 and did not compensate properly to make correct entrance into curve 16. This resulted in a late entrance into curve 16 and although the athlete worked to correct the problem he eventually lost control of the sled resulting in the tragic accident. The technical officials of the FIL were able to retrace the path of the athlete and concluded there was no indication that the accident was caused by deficiencies in the track." However, they decided to shorten the track all the same for men and women. Criticisms flew, over the next few days, that Canada had been too aggressive in the track design, that it was too fast and too dangerous.
2. Snow had to be trucked in: February in Vancouver 2010 was beautiful weather-wise, unless you were organising an Olympic sports event. With temperatures above 10c in the city and rain and mud in the local mountains, VANOC had to truck and helicopter snow in. Around 8,000 people who bought tickets for snowboard cross at Cypress Mountain were issued refunds as the spectating area was washed away by warm wet weather.
3. "Bailout" Games When Fortress group went bankrupt the City of Vancouver was on the hook for $1bn for the creation of the Olympic village. Whistler Mountain was due to go up for auction during the Games, but got a reprieve. Costs soared: almost $1 billion for security we were told.
4. People partied, people protested: There was plenty to dislike about the way VANOC set up its stall in Vancouver (the secrecy and lack of transparency, the greenwashing, the aggressive trademark litigation, the security, the costs, etc.). But the games had arrived. Many who regretted the day that we'd ever won the Olympics decided to hell with it, let's have a ball while it lasts. Olympic critics still tried to make their voices heard and for the most part it was civil and respectful. However, there was also the 2010 Heart Attack, on the second day of the Games, where anarchists went on "a rampage" downtown smashing the shop windows of Olympic sponsors like the Bay. They grabbed headlines, but didn't win many friends.
5. Media wars These Olympics have had more round-the-clock, international media coverage then ever before. Naturally, Canadians wanted to read what the world was saying about them. When things started badly with the Olympics the foreign press - British and US, in particular - were seen to be unfairly putting the boot in. The local media rallied around the besieged VANOC. The Games turned the bend.
6. Pedestrian traffic jams Everyone moaned about the road changes, but once you got the hang of the new layout it was fine. Car jams weren't the problem. With viaducts, roads and cyclepaths shut down there was a huge, swarming mass of humanity (usually of red and white hue) like downtown Vancouver had never seen. May it continue.
7. Olympic soap I know this sounds cynical, but if you didn't put your life on hold when the Olympics started then trying to keep up with the myriad Olympian backstories was difficult. It was like being a newbie at school all over again and not knowing who anyone is. Except in this instance everybody left after a couple of weeks. Why get worked into a lather?
8. Olympic hockey parties There was one sport that (most of) the city stopped for.
9. Iginla - Crosby - Goaaaal!! It couldn't have been a more dramatic ending to the Vancouver Olympic Games. The Canadian men's hockey team took gold in a nail-biting, pulverisingly exciting final. Underlining Canada's world supremacy in the sport, the Canadian women's hockey team took gold only a couple of days earlier (incurring the disapproval of the IOC when they had celebratory beers and cigars on the ice). Both teams saw off Canada's arch-rival to the South. The fairy-tale ending saw "Sid the Kid" put away that unforgettable goal that sent the country into raptures.
10. It's Not Just About Winning. Really? Mid-way through the Games Canada's low medal haul was being called a "national embarrassment". There were criticisms of the $117 million dollar "Own The Podium" plan, to train top Canadian athletes to perfection, being a failure. The U.S. media joked about "Borrowing Canada's Podium". The gibes didn't last long. Canada came through late with a series of wins. The US topped the podium with 37 medals, and Germany came second with 30 compared to Canada's third place 26 medals. But, with that hockey final win on the last day, Canada topped the gold medal tally with 14 gold medals, a record for a Winter Olympics home nation.