The XXI Olympic Winter Games were held from 12 to 28 February 2010 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The venues for the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games stretched over a 120-kilometer zone from Richmond, through downtown Vancouver, and north to the mountain resort of Whistler.
2,626 athletes from 82 countries competed at the 2010 Winter Olympics in 86 events over 15 disciplines in 7 sports.
Whistler was born for the Games and built on a dream.
When Vancouverites returned from the Squaw Valley Olympic Winter Games in 1960 they only had one thought in mind: Why not host the Winter Games in Vancouver?. All they needed was a mountain and they chose Whistler Mountain – a mining claim at Mile 40 on the Pacific Great Eastern Railway. Based on the potential they saw, the Garibaldi Olympic Development Association (GODA) was formed and in 1961 an audacious bid was put forward for Whistler to be the Canadian nominee for the 1968 Olympic Winter Games. In 1962 Franz Wilhelmsen formed Garibaldi Lifts Limited with a group of Vancouver businessmen. Whistler officially opened for skiing in February 1966.
A long journey to host the Winter Olympic Games just started. After six attempts Vancouver was elected host city of the XXI Olympic Winter Games in 2010 at the 115th IOC Session in Prague on 2 July 2003.
It was the second time Canada had hosted the Winter Games, the first being in 1988, in Calgary, Alberta.
Before the Winter Games, on December 12, 2008, the Whistler Blackcomb PEAK 2 PEAK Gondola connecting Whistler and Blackcomb Mountains was officially opened to the public. At 436m/1,427 ft above the valley floor, the PEAK 2 PEAK is the world’s highest lift of its kind and a marvel of engineering.
Over 235 broadcasters and television stations showed coverage of the Games in more than 220 territories. More than 100 official broadcast partner websites worldwide carried broadcast coverage of the Games. Television coverage of the Vancouver 2010 Games was more than double the coverage for the 2006 Turin Winter Games and three times the amount available during the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Games, representing nearly 32,000 hours of broadcast coverage in total.
During the Olympic Games in Vancouver, millions lived and contributed to, the passion for the Games via the IOC’s social media platforms. The IOC significantly expanded in 2020 its use of social media and other online communications tools to engage younger audiences, promote Olympic values, and share the magic of the Games with the largest possible audience.
Whistler Blackcomb, the official Alpine Skiing venue for the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, is North America’s premier four-season mountain resort. The Resort Municipality of Whistler is located in the Coast Mountains of British Columbia 115 kilometers (72 miles) from Vancouver, British Columbia.
Bode Miller of the U.S. and Aksel Lund Svindal of Norway won three medals: a gold medal, a silver medal, and a bronze medal.
German skier Maria Riesch was Vancouver's sole double gold medalist in 2010.
Didier Defago grabs gold for Switzerland after a stunning performance in the Men's Downhill event held on the Dave Murray Downhill course at Whistler Creekside. He crossed the finish line ahead of Aksel Lund Svindal and Bode Miller.
This was the seventeenth edition of the Men's Downhill at the Olympics and the time margins between the medalists were the closest in history; with only 0.09 seconds separating gold and bronze.
The gold goes to Norway in the challenging and technically difficult Super-G race, thanks to Aksel Lund Svindal's fantastic performance. The defending World Cup Super-G champion and leader of the discipline's standings crossed the finish line 0.28 seconds ahead of Bode Miller and 0.31 ahead of Andrew Weibrecht.
Bode Miller won the gold in the Men's Super Combined competition at the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic Games. He crossed the finish line ahead of Ivica Kostelić and Silvan Zurbriggen.
One major change in this event for the 2010 Olympics was the switch from a traditional Combined format taking place over one or two days and involving a Downhill run and two Slalom runs (as the combined had been since its reintroduction to the Olympics in 1988), to a one-day "Super Combined", consisting of a Downhill run and one Slalom run in the same day.
Carlo Janka won the gold in the Giant Slalom thanks to an outstanding performance. He beat the Norwegian duo of Kjetil Jansrud and Aksel Lund Svindal. It was Svindal's third medal in Vancouver 2010.
Giuliano Razzoli won the gold medal in the Men's Slalom, in the last race of the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic Games. Ivica Kostelić picked up his second silver medal of these Olympics. André Myhrer took the bronze.
The start was lowered due to challenging weather conditions, including rain.
Lindsey Vonn sensationally takes the gold medal in the extremely difficult Women's Downhill held in the Franz's course. She crossed the finish line 0.56 seconds ahead of fellow American Julia Mancuso, and 1.46 seconds ahead of Austria's Elisabeth Goergl.
Through 2019, it was the sole victory for the United States in the Women's Downhill at the Winter Games.
Goergl's mother Traudl Hecher was also a bronze medalist for Austria in the Downhill in 1960 and 1964.
Andrea Fischbacher takes the gold medal in the Women's Super-G event. She finished 0.49 seconds ahead of Tina Maze, and 0.74 seconds ahead of American skier Lindsey Vonn, who had won gold in the Downhill three days before.
Maria Riesch won the gold in the Women's Super Combined competition at the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic Games. She crossed the finish line ahead of Julia Mancuso and Anja Paerson.
Viktoria Rebensburg took the gold medal in the Women's Giant Slalom event finishing only 0.04 seconds ahead of Tina Maze, and 0.14 seconds ahead of Elisabeth Goergl.
After the first run, the event was postponed due to heavy fog in the afternoon; and the second run was held the next morning.
Maria Riesch of Germany won her second gold medal in Vancouver 2020 in the Women's Slalom. The race was held in challenging weather conditions of fog, snow, and warm temperatures. She crossed the finish line ahead of Marlies Schild of Austria and Sarka Zahrobska of the Czech Republic.
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