More than 5,500 athletes from 80-plus countries are expected to take part in the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Games. The third Winter Olympics to be held in Canada begins Feb. 12 and runs 17 days through Feb. 28. A look at 10 things to watch in these Games:
1. Vancouver
Vancouver is the largest metropolitan area to host a Winter Olympics. Selecting Vancouver as host city represents an interesting switch for these Games, moving the event away from the cozy, snowy village feel often associated with the Winter Olympics. Vancouver was selected in 2003, one year after the Salt Lake City metropolitan area hosted the Games. A successful Games in Vancouver could lead to a philosophical shift in selecting host cities.
2. Indoor Opening Ceremony
The Opening Ceremony at BC Place Stadium will be the Olympics’ first to be held indoors. BC Place, which opened in 1983 as Canada’s first covered stadium, is the world’s largest air-supported domed stadium and is pressurized by 16 jet engine fans. After the Olympics, the home of the BC Lions of the Canadian Football League will replace its inflatable roof with a retractable roof.
3. U.S. vs. Canada
The United States edged Canada for second in the medal standings in 2006, with 25 medals to Canada’s 24. (Germany was tops with 29.) As host country, Canada has embarked on an “Own the Podium” program designed to move Canada to the top of the medals count. U.S.-Canada hockey matchups — men and women — could be particularly intense.
4. Unique medals
In an Olympic first, each medal will be unique. Each will feature a different crop of artwork by Canadian designer Corrine Hunt. The medals, which are round and undulating, are the heaviest in Olympic history at 500 to 576 grams (just over 1 pound to 1.25 pounds) each.
5. Curling
Each Winter Olympics, curling becomes even cooler. Curling is like chess on ice, except the competitors actually have to do something physical instead of sitting in a chair. USA Curling has 13,684 members. Membership increased 12 percent in the four years after the 2002 Winter Olympics and 14 percent since the Turin Games in 2006, and USA Curling officials say they expect another membership bump after these Games.
6. TV ratings
The Turin Games of 2006 were the least-watched Winter Olympics since at least 1988. Delayed coverage in the age of immediate results on the Internet was largely to blame. But with the 2010 Games in North America instead of Italy, NBC will be able to offer more live programming in its planned 835 hours of coverage. Fox has said it will send “American Idol” up against NBC’s Olympics coverage.
7. Quatchi, Miga and Sumi
Quatchi, Miga and Sumi are these Olympics’ official mascots. Quatchi, the largest of the three, is a hockey-loving Sasquatch that wants to become a goalie. Snowboarding is the favorite sport of Miga, a young sea bear. Sumi (yes, pronounced “sue me”) is an animal spirit from the British Columbia mountains that, not surprisingly, is a big fan of alpine skiing.
8. Ski Cross
The only new sport at the 2010 Games is not really a new sport. Ski Cross, classified under freestyle skiing, included contact and crashes, which should lead to exciting finishes. Like Snowboard Cross but on skis, Ski Cross features four riders racing down a course filled with jumps and turns.
9. Lindsey Vonn
Americans will love Alpine skier Lindsey Vonn. Not only is she friendly with an engaging smile, but she also is the most successful U.S. female skier ever. She is the only two-time World Cup champion from the United States, and NBC cameras will be all over her quest for gold medals.
10. Figure skating
Women’s figure skating is the glamour event of the Winter Olympics. American women have won the Ladies’ Singles gold medal in three of the past five Games and have won at least silver in all five of those Olympics. But reigning world champion Kim Yu-na is from South Korea, and her top competition figures to come from Mao Asada and Miki Ando of Japan and Canada’s Joannie Rochette. Not since 1964 has the United States not medaled in the event.
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