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The 2010 Winter Olympics, officially known as the '''XXI Olympic Winter Games,''' are the next Winter Olympics , scheduled to be held in Vancouver , British Columbia , Canada in 2010 . Several venues will also be built in Richmond , the University Of British Columbia , Callaghan Valley , West Vancouver , and in the resort community of Whistler . The games are returning to North America just eight years after Salt Lake City hosted the games in 2002 . The 2010 Winter Olympics will be the third Olympics hosted by Canada, and the first by the province of British Columbia. Previously, Canada was home to the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal and the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary . The villages of Whistler and Garibaldi bid for the games in 1976 before and failed to win. Also, for the first time since 1984 the Opening and Closing Ceremonies for a Winter Olympics will be held indoors. The Canadian Olympic Committee , as the NOC of the host country, has pledged to obtain the most gold medals of any country at the 2010 Winter Olympics, due to its failures to obtain a gold at both the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal and the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary . To achieve the goal, a program called '' Own The Podium - 2010 '' was launched. For the first time Winter Olympic Games will be held by the sea and some venues, such as the Richmond Olympic Oval are at sea level. Vancouver is also the warmest city ever to host a Winter Olympics. In February, when the Games will be held, Vancouver has an average temperature of 4.8 degrees Celsius. That's a higher average temperature than in any city that has ever hosted the Winter Olympics before.1 Per Olympic tradition, current Vancouver mayor Sam Sullivan received the Olympic Flag during the Closing Ceremony Of The 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin , Italy , which was also attended by the Premier Of British Columbia , Gordon Campbell , himself a Vancouver native, and Governor General Michaëlle Jean . The flag was raised on Tuesday February 28 , 2006 in an Special Flag Raising Ceremony. It will be on display at Vancouver's City Hall until the Opening Ceremony. At the same time, in Ottawa, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said in a statement that the Olympic flame had begun its journey to Vancouver. {Link without Title} The Olympics will make Vancouver the largest city ever to host a Winter Olympics. BIDDING See Also: 2010 Winter Olympic bids Vancouver won the bidding process to host the Olympics by a vote of the International Olympic Committee on July 2 , 2003 at the 115th IOC Session held in Prague , Czech Republic . The result was announced by Jacques Rogge , which was his first such announcement as IOC president. {Link without Title} Earlier in February, Vancouver's residents were subjected to a referendum accepting the responsibilities of the host city should it win its bid. Sixty-four percent of residents accepted the challenge. Vancouver also got support from south of the border as well. In neighboring , Austria and Pyeongchang , South Korea . Two years earlier, Canada had put in a bid for the 2008 Summer Olympics in Toronto, but lost out to Beijing. Many felt that Toronto's loss helped Vancouver win the bidding process. The bid vote was televised live across Canada. On the CBC , chief correspondent and anchor Peter Mansbridge made it clear that it will be the first time in almost a quarter century that Canada will be hosting an Olympic games. Immediately when Rogge made the announcement, Mansbridge hollered on the air: "The games are coming back to Canada!" {Link without Title} South of the border, Locke called Vancouver's win a big win for Washington state. CONSTRUCTION The initial challenge Vancouver faced in winning the bid for the 2010 Winter Olympics was fundraising for construction of venues. The committee charged with planning the games received commitments of investment by the federal and provincial governments as well as donations from private corporations and institutions. Such commitments were made enthusiastically as a chance to build on the world prestige Vancouver already gained as host of the 1986 World's Fair and to improve on the technological advances made during that event, like the expansion of the SkyTrain Transit System . As of 2004, the cost of the 2010 Winter Olympics is estimated to be in the range of C$ 1.4 billion. C$620 million is the approximate cost to construct venues throughout Vancouver and Whistler, C$200 million is expected to be spent for security, which the RCMP is expected to be in charge of, and C$600 million will be used to refit the Sea-to-Sky Highway to accommodate increased traffic between Vancouver and Whistler, although this highway upgrade has been over due for more than a decade and will still not meet the basic needs of the corridor. Vancouver and Whistler will maintain an operating budget of about C$2 billion from the provincial and federal governments. EVENTS Fifteen winter sports events have been announced as part of the 2010 Winter Olympics. The eight events categorized as Ice Sports include: , Cross Country Skiing , Ski Jumping , Nordic Combined . The opening and closing ceremonies and the events categorized as "Ice Sports" (excluding bobsleigh, luge and skeleton) will be held in Vancouver and Richmond. The sports categorized as "Nordic Events" will be held in the Callagan Valley located just to the west of Whistler. All Alpine Skiing events will be held on Whistler Mountain (creekside) and sliding events (bobsleigh, luge and skeleton) will be held on Blackcomb Mountain . Cypress Mountain (located in Cypress Provincial park in West Vancouver) will host the 2010 Freestyle Skiing (Aerials and Moguls), and all 2010 Snowboard Events (Half-Pipe, Parallel Giant Slalom, Snowboard Cross). VENUES Vancouver
Richmond
West Vancouver
Whistler
BROADCASTING Vancouver 2010 will be broadcast worldwide by a number of television broadcasters. Confirmed broadcasters include:
Footnotes SEE ALSO EXTERNAL LINKS
Official Venue Links
Community Links
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