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Vancouver 2010 The Final Tally

Comments 18 by Rebecca Bollwitt
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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.

Vancouver 2010 Day 17 Closing Time

Comments 1 by Rebecca Bollwitt
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My Day 17 involved packing up and heading to the BC International Media Centre one last time. Lugging my laptop across town, going through the security screening, and taking photos at a press conference with Jasey-Jay Anderson followed by the gold medal men’s curling team.

Jasey-Jay Anderson

Gold medal curlers

Then of course, we watched the hockey game.

John and Me

John and I headed home to watch the closing ceremony together, curled up on the couch, tears streaming down my face as throngs of red and white revelers cheered outside our window. Words cannot express how I have felt over the last 17 days, even though I’ve been writing my way through the Games. Thank you, Vancouver.

Stephen Brunt Video Essay for Vancouver 2010

Comments 6 by Rebecca Bollwitt
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Stephen Brunt, a columnist for the Globe and Mail, put together a remarkable video essay about the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games. [Update] At the time this post was published, the video couldn’t be embedded but in the months since, it has appeared on YouTube:

Brunt also penned this article about Vancouver 2010, which tugs equally at one’s heartstrings:

Robson Street“… the show got off to an unequivocally awful start. Hours before the cauldron was lit, a luger was killed during a practice run, raising questions about the safety of the state-of-the-art track built specifically for these Olympics. A technical glitch marred the climactic moment of the Opening Ceremony, and freakishly warm weather threatened to melt the Cypress Mountain venue, forcing cancellations and eventually mass ticket refunds. The much-hyped Canadian hope for a home gold medal fell short on the opening day of competition, and the opportunistic overseas press corps focused in on every glitch, pronouncing the Vancouver-Whistler Olympics a failure and an embarrassment to the host country even before they had really begun.

It would have been no surprise in those circumstances for the country to curl up in the fetal position, to experience a great national cringe: We weren’t good enough; in the big moment, we hadn’t come through; we weren’t up to the task; we should never have become involved (or spent the money) in the first place.

Robson StreetWhat happened instead were the streets of Vancouver filling with huge crowds, young, pan-ethnic, the very image of the place, decked out in national colours, patriotic gear the fashion statement of the moment, and that became the story. From across the country came reports of other gatherings, more modest naturally, and then the first television numbers, showing that unprecedented numbers of Canadians were tuning in…

…Apparently, it wasn’t all about flawless execution and it wasn’t all about winning medals and it wasn’t even all about sport. It was about providing an opportunity, a platform, an excuse, to let loose pent-up feelings of national pride, to express, without apology, with a spirit of joy, a national identity, hitting emotional notes beyond the usual touchstones of climate and geography, of politeness, tolerance, universal health care and hockey.”

The Vancouver 2010 Games were one of the highlights of my life, as a local, as a blogger, and as a spectator. I’m sure we’ll be talking about them for years to come. See you at Sochi 2014!

Canada Wins Gold in Hockey

Comments 1 by Rebecca Bollwitt
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This was arguably the biggest game in our nation’s history. It wasn’t the Summit Series, but it was the Olympic gold medal game on our home turf, against our continental brothers. The USA played hard, Miller stood on his head to stop us, and they even made us sweat… a lot. You couldn’t have imagined this match up and you couldn’t have fathomed that this game would go into overtime with Crosby scoring the winning goal.

Robson Square

I wouldn’t be surprised if Ryan Miller, Roberto Luongo, Sidney Crosby, Jonathan Toews, and more inspire young boys and girls to start playing hockey. In fact, I look forward to seeing the next generation grow up with this sport (and more) thanks to Vancouver 2010.

This is the storybook stuff Disney thrives on – but it wasn’t a miracle – it was our country holding its breath and coming together from coast to coast to believe that we could do this.

I admit, I cried. This is my town, my country, and my Canucks goalie that kept pucks out of the net. Even though my American husband might make me sleep on the couch tonight, it’s totally worth it.

Tomorrow might not be declared a national holiday, but I know many will have an Olympic-sized hangover. If not from beer and spirits, but from the excitement, enthusiasm, and passion that made Vancouver burst at its seams over the last 17 days.

Live Webcam of Robson Square

Comments 2 by Rebecca Bollwitt
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I’ve featured this webcam before but I think for this afternoon’s hockey game, where Canada takes on the USA for the gold medal, this would be an interesting view of downtown crowds.

Watch live streaming video from bcmclivechannel at livestream.com

It’s bound to be a sea of red later, despite the rain outside. From the gold medal game to the Closing Ceremony, people will be out in droves to cap off their Vancouver 2010 Olympic experience downtown.

Thanks to the Province of British Columbia for making Robson Square one of the best places to be during the Games (and during the Paralympic Games). I know my family in Germany has checked out this cam before and I think it’s been a really neat view of one of the busiest pedestrian intersections in our City.

Update Of course there are multiple camera views so if you’re seeing only empty stairs, they haven’t yet switched over to the other street view.