Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic Games

The city of Vancouver was elected host of the 21st Winter Olympic Games of 2010 at the 115th assembly of the IOC in Prague on 2 July 2003.

 

Time and Place: Vancouver (British Columbia, Canada), 12 - 28 February 2010
Other candidates: Bern
Participation: 82 countries, 2,632 athletes
Number of sports: 15 sports, 86 events
Fire lit by: Wayne Gretzky (hockey player)
Games opened by: Michaëlle Jean
Olympic oath: Hayley Wickenheiser

At the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, Slovenia won three medals, one medal for every 663,000 citizens, coming behind only the Norway (212,000) and Austria (513,000).

more

Trivia from the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic Games

The sixteen-day sports spectacle in Vancouver set the record for participation - 86 sets of medals were distributed among 2,632 athletes (1,557 male competitors and 1,064 female competitors).  The perfect image was somewhat spoiled by certain organizational issues. The "victim" of one of such issues was Slovenian hero Petra Majdič who won a bronze in cross country skiing despite a severe injury. The most successful Slovenian athlete in the history of the Olympic Games became skier Tina Maze with two silvers.

 

Olympic heights

 

Norwegian cross country skier Marit Björgen became the most successful participant of the Vancouver Winter Games, winning five medals including three gold ones. The second best athlete was Chinese short track speed skater Wang Meng with three gold medals and the third best was Norwegian cross country skier Petter Northug who was the best male competitor. Tina Maze shared 15th place with other athletes who won two silvers.