The Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics Discussion Thread

I used to have a stuffed Izzy

 

I heard that the Canadian government is giving an incentive to their athletes that they will pay them several thousand if they win a gold.

 

Time to meet the next mascot of the 2010 Winter Olympics. I present Quatchi to the Thread.

[image=http://www.vancouver2010.com/mascot/images/bar_meet_q2_en.gif]

Quatchi is a young sasquatch who comes from the mysterious forests of Canada. Quatchi is shy, but loves to explore new places and meet new friends. Although Quatchi loves all winter sports, he?s especially fond of hockey. He dreams of becoming a world-famous goalie.

Because of his large size, he can be a little clumsy. But no one can question his passion. He knows that if he works hard and always does his best, he might one day achieve his dream. Quatchi is always encouraging his friends to join him on journeys across Canada. He is also often recruiting others to play hockey ? or at least to take shots at him!

The sasquatch is a popular figure in local native legends of the Pacific West Coast. There is both a legendary ?woman-of-the-woods? (a slightly fearsome figure whose stories are told to discipline young children) and a ?man-of-the-woods? (a shy giant who lurks in the forests). The sasquatch reminds us of the mystery and wonder that exist in the natural world, igniting our imagination about the possibility of fantastical creatures in the great Canadian wilderness.

 

Is it bad that I had to go back and make sure the first one wasn't "Sasqui" or some such?

 

Is it bad that I want to squash sasquatch Quatchi's dream of being a world-famous goalie? Like, with a passion unseen in the history of mankind?

 

The incentives aren't very great.

The Australians spent $300 Million per year.

The Canadians $36 Million

I wouldn't mind this at all if they spent the money saved on something useful. They don't.

 

I now present the last mascot the the Thread:

[image=http://www.vancouver2010.com/mascot/images/bar_meet_m1_en.gif]

Miga is a young sea bear who lives in the ocean with her family pod, out past Vancouver Island near Tofino, British Columbia. Sea bears are part killer whale and part bear. Miga is part Kermode bear, a rare white bear that only lives in British Columbia.

All summer long, Miga rides waves with local surfers. But during the winter months, she often sneaks onto the shores of Vancouver to seek adventure. When Miga discovered that humans were 'surfing' on snow, up in the mountains, she knew she had to join the fun. Snowboarding soon became her favourite winter sport. Her dream is to land a corked 720 in the half-pipe one day? It will take lots of practice, and a few falls along the way, but she?s sure she can do it.

The sea bear is inspired by the legends of the Pacific Northwest First Nations, tales of orca whales that transform into bears when they arrive on land. The Kermode bear is a rare white or cream-coloured sub-species of the black bear that is unique to the central West Coast of British Columbia. According to First Nations? legend, Kermode bears ? also known as Spirit Bears ? were turned white by Raven to remind people of the Ice Age. Orcas are also honoured in the art and stories of West Coast First Nations, as travellers and guardians of the sea.

 

Double post....

528 days until the 2010 Winter Olympics begin....

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[b]Vancouver 2010 Timeline[/b]

2005 ? 2006:
Venue construction begins on all 2010 competition and non-competition sites

February 10 ? 26, 2006:
2006 Olympic Winter Games in Torino, Italy. VANOC sends an observation team.

March 10 ? 19, 2006:
2006 Paralympic Winter Games in Torino. VANOC sends an observation team.

Summer 2007:
Construction to begin on the Vancouver Olympic Village and the Whistler Olympic and Paralympic Village

2007:
Vancouver 2010 Winter Games mascot to be selected

Winter 2007/2008:
Games venues to be available for athlete training

2008:
VANOC to begin volunteer recruitment. An estimated 25,000 volunteers are required to stage the Games.

August 8 ? 24, 2008:
2008 Olympic Summer Games in Beijing, China. VANOC sends an observation team.

September 6 ? 17, 2008:
2008 Paralympic Summer Games in Beijing. VANOC sends an observation team.

Fall 2008:
Vancouver 2010 Winter Games ticket sales

Winter 2008/2009:
Sport Events for the 2010 Winter Games

2008:
Media Accreditation for the 2010 Winter Games. An estimated 10,000 media members expected to be accredited.

Fall 2009:
2010 Winter Games Olympic Flame (torch) Relay

February 12 ? 28, 2010:
XXI Olympic Winter Games

March 12 ? 21, 2010:
X Paralympic Winter Games

[hr]

 

Something will go wrong, RX.

You know it. I know it.

 

Wrong for those involved, or wrong at the games?

 

Wrong at the games.

 

Richmond Olympic Oval Opens.

(from www.vancouver2010.com)

Dec 12, 2008

At 47,526 square metres, the Richmond Olympic Oval is one of the most impressive indoor competition venues for the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games. For neighbouring communities, this extraordinary facility is anticipated to be a keystone of sport and wellness, and today, its doors will open to the public for the first time.

?The Richmond Olympic Oval is a landmark and a spectacular venue for the 2010 Winter Games,? said Magnus Enfeldt, speed skating sport and venue planning manager for the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (VANOC).

?With the facility complete 14 months prior to the Olympic Games, it?s great from an operational point of view, as well as for the community, which has an opportunity to enjoy this Olympic venue before the world is invited in February of 2010.?

Richmond, BC, already takes pride in having the longest life expectancy and lowest obesity rates in Canada, thanks in part to active lifestyles and excellent parks and recreation programs. So given the community vitality, the Richmond Olympic Oval was primarily designed for legacy use, while delivering on all Olympic venue specifications. The City of Richmond undertook the Oval?s design, construction and ongoing operation with the vision of maintaining and increasing sport participation and wellness programs.

"The Richmond Olympic Oval will create tremendous legacies that will benefit our community for generations to come," said Mayor Malcolm Brodie. "The Oval will provide a wide variety of much-needed sport, recreational, fitness, cultural and health facilities and programs for our community. It will also support high performance sport development in a wide variety of summer and winter sports."

Post Games transformation

External view of the Richmond Olympic Oval. (photo courtesy of City of Richmond) Following the 2010 Games, the Richmond Olympic Oval will transform into a multi-sport and wellness complex to service sport organizations and provide the Greater Vancouver area with a facility for sport medicine, sport science, healthy living promotion and injury rehabilitation. The City is also collaborating with the Richmond School Board to develop a program for students to skate for free on the new Olympic Oval.

Also as a post-Games consideration, the Oval?s main activity area can be transformed into an indoor field house divided into ice, hard wood courts and turf sections for a wide variety of dry land activities and ice sports including speed skating and short track speed skating. The Richmond Olympic Oval also meets or exceeds national accessibility standards to enable adaptive programs and Paralympic-calibre events to be held in the facility, including the World Wheelchair Rugby Championships in 2010.

Training grounds for Canada?s best

The new Oval will be infused with excellence as Canada?s top speed skaters migrate to Richmond for training. The City of Richmond has already entered into a formal partnership with Speed Skating Canada to support its athletes leading up to the 2010 Winter Games.
On the green

The facility was completed on schedule and met the budget target of $178 million, which includes a $60 million contribution from VANOC to the capital budget. Funding from the Olympic Legacy Fund will assist ongoing operational costs.

Over the long term, the Oval?s energy efficient building designs minimize long-term operational costs. With its two-hectare clear span roof structure designed to accommodate the 400-metre skating Oval, the Richmond Olympic Oval is an exceptional model of green building design and operation. Environmentally sound building initiatives were especially important given the Oval?s waterfront site on the Fraser River, one of North America?s most significant salmon rivers. The environmental assessment provided opportunities for public and stakeholder engagem

 

What about that gondola tower collapsing? Not good...

 

woohoo, a little over a year to go. Can't wait. I love the Olympics.

 

Those mascots are sooo cute. I'm going to get a poster with all of them to put on my wall.

This will be my first attended Olympics. I can't wait!

 

Big, big trouble. The city has to borrow zillions to complete the athlete's village...

 

VANCOUVER 2010

City free to borrow Olympic cash
Mayor seeks new financing deal - and next $30-million - after legislature eases rules to salvage athletes village

JUSTINE HUNTER

With a report from Frances Bula, Special to the Globe and Mail

January 19, 2009

VICTORIA -- Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson, armed with new powers to borrow as his council sees fit to keep the Olympic village project afloat, was still uncertain yesterday where the next $30-million will come from to pay the contractors on the job site.

"We need the cash to make the next draw, but we want an improved financing arrangement before we put more cash in," he said in an interview. "We are in much better shape now, but the work is by no means done."

The provincial legislature unanimously approved amendments to the city's charter yesterday morning to grant Vancouver unlimited borrowing authority to complete the development.

Premier Gordon Campbell called the mayor with the news shortly after the bill was passed, the result of a raucous, around-the-clock debate. The city had requested the change, noting it is paying $87,000 a day in interest costs alone. It had no authority to borrow to meet the next payment, due Feb. 15, without holding a referendum.

Mr. Robertson said the city is in daily contact with the lender for the Olympic athletes village, but the legislation enacted yesterday will strengthen the city's hand in those talks.

"We're looking to reduce the carrying costs as soon as possible and refinance at more favourable rates."

The new bill, which went from introduction to proclamation in slightly more than 20 hours, will allow the city to restructure the financing for the 1,100-unit housing project that it has promised to complete to provide accommodation for athletes during the 2010 Winter Olympic Games. It is paying a reported 11-per-cent interest on the current loan and needs another $458-million to complete the village.

In Victoria, the debate focused on financial accountability and disclosure surrounding the Games as a whole. As the debate wrapped up yesterday, the Liberal Premier stalked out of the chamber and unleashed a bitter appraisal of the "Olympics-bashing" New Democratic Party critics across the floor.

"Candidly, one of the things I learned is the Opposition is not capable of dealing with an important issue without strewing it with personal attacks and partisanship," Mr. Campbell said in an interview. "They have been opposed to it, we've been for it. It's generated thousands of jobs and millions of dollars of investment; it's going to create enormous opportunities for our economy in the future."

NDP Leader Carole James opened the debate Saturday afternoon promising her members would support the amendment.

But throughout the debate, the New Democrats sought to link the village project to a broader question of Olympics spending.

Minutes after the legislation was passed, Ms. James told reporters the results of the debate were disappointing.

"I'm satisfied we did everything we could," she said. "But once again, we see the arrogance of this government that refuses to answer questions about the real liability to taxpayers, not only in Vancouver but in British Columbia."

The NDP stuck to the "arrogant" theme throughout the debate, using the word dozens of times. For good measure the words "moron" and "rat" were tossed about the chamber as well as the night wore on.

"So let's call this for what it is. It is a corporate bailout," said Vancouver NDP MLA Jennie Kwan.

When it was all over, Community Development Minister Blair Lekstrom, the rookie cabinet minister who fronted the bill, bounded out of the chamber with a smile. He had been inside, mostly, since noon on Saturday, taking time out for coffee and pizza breaks.

"It was my first bill and I enjoyed it," he said.

"I sat through every speaker in the House and here we are, shortly after 8:30, I believe, on Sunday morning, and I'm hoping to be going home to see my wife."

Aside from the financing problems, Vancouver's city manager and council also need to figure out what t

 

The part where the Canadian athletes are staying will be.

 

Are you kidding? We're still paying off the Montreal Olympics!

 

Yes, Calgary did lose tons of money hosting the '88 Winter Games. Here is a excerpt from wiki about it:

Organizers and government claimed that the Calgary Olympic Games turned a profit. They declared a surplus of between $90-$150 million, and this money was used to fund the various Olympic venues in Calgary. Ever mindful of the financial disaster of the 1976 Summer Olympics, Calgary organizers attempted to be financially successful, because there was political pressure on them to erase the spectre of a second Canadian Games at a loss. Organizers claimed that their use of these profits for the future Canada Olympic Park and the funding of Canadian athletes through the Calgary Olympic Development Association (CODA) gave Calgary a lasting legacy and impact on the Canadian sports scene, and also provided funds for the maintenance and upgrading of athletic facilities in Calgary, Banff, and Lake Louise. Well after the Olympics ended, they declared, CODA continued to use its resources to develop resources for Olympic athletes in the city, which included supporting Canada's first high school designed for Olympic calibre athletes, in a partnership with the Calgary Board of Education.

However, a widely cited 1993 audit and independent research conducted by the daily newspaper The Toronto Star in 1999 showed that these financial figures were largely bogus. When announcing these numbers, organizers had removed from their calculations $461 million in subsidies provided by federal, provincial and local governments used mainly for building the games venues. When these government investments were included in the balance sheets, the Calgary Olympics produced a huge financial loss.

There was a substantial social impact as well. From the unprecedented volunteer involvement in staging the Games, a program where ordinary Calgarians could purchase, for $19.88 in the summer of 1986, a brick at the main medal presentation plaza called the Olympic Plaza with their names laser-engraved on it. The involvement of ordinary Calgarians was evident. This was of paramount importance to the organizing committee, OCO'88, as it kept the Games from appearing distant and "out of reach".

All levels of government helped to fund the Games. The federal government, in Ottawa, provided $225 million (note all figures listed in CDN funds, not adjusted for inflation), the province of Alberta paid $125 million and the city of Calgary with $50 million. The American host network, ABC, paid a then record $398 million, while the main host broadcaster, the Canadian CTV television network, paying $45 million for domestic rights. A further $90 million was raised by sponsorships and licenses.

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I'm sure that Vancouver will suffer significant losses as well considering that they now have to borrow tons of money just to finish up the Olympic villages. The large expense to taxpayers, estimated in 2007 to be CAN$580 million. After the stock market crash of 2008, there are increasing concerns that Games-related projects will not meet their economic targets. The Olympic Village development, for example, was originally intended to make a profit, but is now expected to remain $800 million in debt upon completion.

[hr]

[link=http://www.vancouver2010.com/store/mascot/catmascot-p1.html]Official Vancouver 2010 Olympic Store[/link]

The above link has all sorts of souvenirs that you can buy including the mascots.

 

That was an acutely interesting article...

 

The 2010 Olympic Torch and Torchbearer Uniform Unveiled.

(from www.vancouver2010.com)

Feb 12, 2009

Have you been anxiously waiting the unveiling of the 2010 Olympic Torch and Olympic Torchbearer uniform? You?re not alone ? the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (VANOC) has also been waiting a long time to share it with you. Today in Whistler, VANOC, along with Bombardier and the Hudson?s Bay Company, unveiled the 2010 Olympic Torch and Torchbearer uniform designs. The event also marked the one-year countdown to the start of the 2010 Olympic Winter Games.

International Olympic Committee president, Jacques Rogge, together with the federal minister for sport, Gary Lunn, Premier of British Columbia, Gordon Campbell and the two first torchbearers selected by Coca-Cola and RBC, Patricia Moreno and Caleb Taylor, were present for this exciting unveiling.
Torch Design

The white and grey 2010 Olympic Torch was inspired by the cool, crisp lines left in the snow and ice from winter sports. Made in Canada, the torch has a fluid and dynamic shape evoking Canadians? sense of optimism.

Weighing 3.5 pounds with the fuel, the torch represents Canada?s vast land and the country?s enormous potential and numerous natural resources. A maple leaf cut-out on the torch is both a symbolic element as well as functional, serving as an air intake to feed the Olympic Flame. The Games motto With Glowing Hearts/Des plus brillants exploits is also engraved on the torch.

Bombardier and VANOC collaborated since 2007 on the torch design to ensure it was readily adaptable to the varied weather of Canadian winters. Other design considerations included making sure the torch is easy to carry, that the flame can easily be transferred between torches and can burn for at least 12 minutes. In addition, the flame must be visible in all weather conditions.

Torchbearer Uniform

A drawing of the 2010 Olympic Torchbearer uniform The torchbearer uniform was designed and manufactured by the Hudson?s Bay Company, a Vancouver 2010 National Partner. In keeping with Olympic Torch Relays tradition, the uniform is mainly white to symbolize peace and hope. The design also incorporates bright blues and greens, a colour palette inspired by the winter landscape of the Sea to Sky corridor between Vancouver and Whistler.

The diversity of the uniform allows it be worn during fall and winter, and is both stylish and comfortable. The uniform is made up of a jacket, pullover pants, toque and red mittens with maple leaf; a fun reference to Canada?s friendly and youthful personality. The Olympic Torch Relay staff and escort runners will also have their own and different uniform.

The Olympic Flame will be carried by 12,000 torchbearers in its 45,000 kilometre, 106-day journey from October 30, 2009 to February 12, 2010. The 2010 Olympic Torch Relay is presented by Coca-Cola and RBC and supported by the Government of Canada.