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Vancouver 2010 The Final Tally

Comments 18 by Rebecca Bollwitt

On the very last day of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games I cried twice. Once, when Sidney Crosby’s goal got past a stellar Ryan Miller, and once again when Neil Young was singing as the flame disappeared from the Olympic cauldron. It’s been seven years in the making and even though it’s gone, I did my best to document every waking moment.

I promised to cover the Games so here are some numbers…

  • Events attended: 3 (women’s hockey, pairs figure skating, alpine)
  • Posts: 118 (in total about Vancouver 2010)
  • Comments received: 2180
  • Posts about pavilions: 17
  • Flickr photos: 608
  • Athlete press conference photos: 21
  • Tweets: 841
  • Badges worn: 5
  • Pins collected: 65
  • USB thumbdrives collected: 25
  • Colds: 1, plus some sinus pressure

Data period: February 1 – February 28, 2010

My Vancouver 2010 Swag (Pins/USB keys) My Vancouver 2010 Swag (Pins/USB keys)

View all posts from Day 1 – Day 17

I also published 22 more articles about the Olympics prior to February 2010.

My Olympic journey started in 2003 with everyone else and picked up in November of 2009 when I visited the IOC and the Olympic Museum in Switzerland. From Lausanne, to Prince George, and to Surrey, this has been an amazing journey.

John and Me at Pairs Figure Skating (standing at our wicked seats)

What I am taking away from these Games is that our city isn’t perfect, but man is it full of some amazing people. We need to help each other out and get that friendly ‘say hi to a stranger on the bus’ vibe going year round. I discovered how much I really want to see St John’s, Halifax, Nunavut, Edmonton and Winnipeg with my husband. I also realized that I would really enjoy a vacation getaway where neither of us has to work.

We made friends, we welcomed people from all over the world, we were guided by hundreds of helpful blue jacket volunteers, and we cheered our hearts our for our athletes. If you haven’t yet seen the video essay by Stephen Brunt, I encourage you do so as it puts words to much of what I am feeling.

“We’ve been through some things together/ With trunks of memories still to come,” sang Neil Young at the Closing Ceremony. “We found things to do in stormy weather/ Long may you run.”

My sincerest thanks to all of the provincial representatives, volunteers and media personnel. Jack Poole, John Furlong, the BCIMC staff, the Alberta Train, Canada’s Northern House, the Royal Canadian Mint, Karyo Edelman, House of Switzerland Canada, John Biehler, John Bollwitt, Kris Krug, Robert Scales, and especially Dave Olson for convincing me that documenting the Olympic Games is well worth every drop of sweat, and every tear.

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18 Comments  —  Comments Are Closed

  1. chico sousaMonday, March 1st, 2010 — 4:36pm PST

    Great job and nice to finally meet you too.

  2. Brian WawryshynMonday, March 1st, 2010 — 4:38pm PST

    Great job Rebecca, what an experience you must have had! Thanks for the great tweets and tips throughout the games.

  3. @lakerin250Monday, March 1st, 2010 — 4:44pm PST

    Yup. Agreed. There were many options, even within the Twittersphere to read up and stay tune in to these games. For me, your posts were the more professional of the new media. Great work.

  4. Alan CMonday, March 1st, 2010 — 4:52pm PST

    Congratulations on getting through it and on a job well done. I think a lot of your readers lived the Olympic moments through your articles and tweets, SO THANK *YOU* FOR DOING WHAT YOU DO!

  5. ArnoldMonday, March 1st, 2010 — 5:28pm PST

    awesome job! thank you for sharing.

  6. kk+Monday, March 1st, 2010 — 5:31pm PST

    what a fun month. glad we got to spend lotsa it together! as a pin collecter.. i’d like to say ‘shotgun on your duplicates!’. i can arrange special trades if you requires. 🙂

  7. BenMonday, March 1st, 2010 — 5:33pm PST

    Thanks so much Rebecca for all the posts. We were not able to get downtown as much as we wanted to but through all your posts we felt we were truly there. The Olympics meant as much to us as it is to you. Thank you so much!
    Ben

  8. AliceMonday, March 1st, 2010 — 5:37pm PST

    Thank you SO Much for everything. I can honestly say you and your posts were a big reason why i got to experience the olympics in vancouver, without actually being there. i am a vancouverite living in new york and i was dying. thank you for all the info – and the info about live stream! Seriously thank you so much ..

  9. Duncan RawlinsonMonday, March 1st, 2010 — 5:52pm PST

    Thanks for the great blog posts and photos. You did a fantastic job of covering the games. *hat tip

  10. Tyler IngramMonday, March 1st, 2010 — 6:13pm PST

    What an awesome series of coverage Rebecca! I’ve enjoyed every post you’ve written, every tweet you’ve seen out and ever photo you and John captured of the events as they unfolded!

    Let’s hope it doesn’t stop there and you are able to cover some of the Paralympic events as well!

  11. JohnMonday, March 1st, 2010 — 6:30pm PST

    It was so much fun to spend a lot of time with you, John, kk, Dave, Scales, Mariska and the rest of the TNMH gang over these past three weeks…I can honestly say that I haven’t had this much fun in my life…and I owe a lot of it to your friendship and help during the games.

    Our ride along in the Torch Relay in Surrey and Delta is still the highlight of the games for me…it was such an amazing experience.

    Having witnessed Rebecca blogging in action a lot over the past weeks, I think she wins the gold medal for hardest working blogger…she is a machine, cranking out posts during so many events…she even live blogged a press conference with her iPhone when her laptop battery died.

    Thanks for being a big part of my first (but not last) Olympic experience!

  12. Vancouver 2010: Day 16 – BCIMC, Mint, Canada’s Northern House, and Sochi House → johnbollwitt.comMonday, March 1st, 2010 — 9:08pm PST

    […] press conferences. Within minutes, he could have photos processed, uploaded, and published. He and Rebecca made a pretty solid team with the amount of coverage they’ve produced while using the BCIMC […]

  13. Ryan DempseyTuesday, March 2nd, 2010 — 12:56pm PST

    Thanks for your posts. Inspiring as ever. You’re my blogging hero. I want to do what you do.

  14. SueTuesday, March 2nd, 2010 — 2:39pm PST

    Ooh, can I second that dibs on any extra pins? I have some nifty ones to trade too!

    In fact, it was your post about pin collecting, which I saw just before heading over to Vancouver to take in the games, that got me started. Thanks for the tip! It’s been great fun!

  15. 2010 Vancouver Olympic Games: An Unforgettable Journey Comes to an End — Room With A View | Pan Pacific VancouverTuesday, March 2nd, 2010 — 6:08pm PST

    […] For more reflections on the games, check out articles on The Tyee, Beyond Robson, and the final tally from Miss 604. […]

  16. dearheartWednesday, March 3rd, 2010 — 1:55pm PST

    I agree with everyone else…you’ve done an amazing job of local coverage and you should be so proud of your work! 🙂

  17. DarioWednesday, March 3rd, 2010 — 2:11pm PST

    Not only is this impressive in its volume but i found myself referring to your site for updates and lists of what was going on more than the official channels.

    Well done and thank you!

  18. marissaWednesday, March 10th, 2010 — 5:15pm PST

    Amazing post! Nicely captured the spirit of the City during the Games. I wish we could have done the Olympics in slow motion – thanks for the recap.

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