Canadian Winter Olympics

All countries enjoy the honor of hosting Olympic Games.  Canada has been no stranger to the Winter games over the years, and is currently scheduled to host the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver.

Early Olympics

In 1960, an idea to host an Olympic Winter Games was first discussed.  They would be held in the Garibaldi region (now called Whistler).  In 1974, Whistler was considered to be a candidate for the Olympic Winter Games of 1980.  Garibaldi/Vancouver was the choice for the 1976 Olympic Winer Games. 

During the year, 1998, Vancouver-Whistler was selected by teh COA over Calgary and Quebec City to become Canada's candidate for the upcoming 2010 Olympic Winter Games an Paralympic Games, while Vancouver is putting in a bid to be the host city.

Olympic History in Canada

As early as 1913, Canada had a permanent committee created in order to organize Canadian Olympic teams.  In 1916, the Olympic Games scheduled to be held in Berlin were cancelled due to war.  Canada's amateur athletes were among the first people to enlist, and they used sports for their training and entertainment of the troops behind the lines. 

Between 1924 and 2006, Canada Olympic athletes have won over 121 Olympic medals, with the majority of those medals being won during the Winter Olympic Games held between 1988 and 2006.  Medal earnings have become much more consistent for Canadian athletes with each Olympics that are held; as the years 1924 to 1984 only saw an average of 2.85 medals won per Olympic session, and since 1988, the average has been increasing and in 2006, athletes took home 24 Olympic Medals.

2006 Winter Games

Canada sent 196 athletes and 220 support staff into the 2006 Winter Olympics.  As they are hosting the 2010 games; they felt pressured to do extremely well at the games and were successful.

In order to promote the upcoming 2010 games, Canadian participation in the closing ceremonies of the Olympic Games of 2006 was increased and they were given the flag to designate their country as the next host for the upcoming Winter Games.

2010 Winter Olympics and Paralympics

Vancouver is hosting the 2010 Winter Games.  There will be 17 days of Olympic Games Events from February 12 to the 28th, and 10 days of Parlympic Games events from March 12 to the 21st.  There will be over 5,000 Olympic games athletes and officials and 1,350 Paralympic atheletes and officials, with events taking place over the course of the 2010 Winter Olympics. and over 80 countries involved.    A huge ordeal, there will be approximately 10,000 media in attendance, as well as an estimated 3 billion television viewers of the games.

Sports include:

• Alpine Skiing
• Bobsledding
• Biatholon
• Cross-Country Skiing
• Curling
• Figure Skating
• Freestyle Skiing
• Ice Hockey
• Luge
• Ice Sledge Hockey
• Snowboarding

Ceremonies will be held to welcome athletes to Vancouver for participation in the games, as well as ceremonies to welcome the world as guests and audience, and ceremonies to award medals to deserving athletes.  Ceremonies are large scale, and reflect the host country's culture and heritage.