2010 Winter Olympics — 21st edition of Winter Olympics, in Vancouver, Canada
Canada hosted the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, setting records for gold medals won by a host nation and global television viewership.
Key Facts
- Participating nations
- 82
- Athletes competing
- approximately 2,600
- Events held
- 86 events in 15 disciplines
- Tickets sold
- over 97% of 1.54 million available
- Canada gold medals
- 14 (Winter Olympics record)
- US total medals
- 37 (Winter Olympics record at the time)
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
Vancouver was awarded the 2010 Winter Olympics after a successful bid, with the city receiving the Olympic flag from Turin during the 2006 closing ceremony. Canada had previously hosted the 1976 Summer Olympics and the 1988 Winter Olympics but had never won a gold medal as host nation in an official sport.
The XXI Olympic Winter Games took place from February 12 to 28, 2010, in Vancouver, British Columbia, with additional events in Richmond, West Vancouver, UBC, and Whistler. Around 2,600 athletes from 82 nations competed in 86 events. The games were officially opened by Governor General Michaëlle Jean, and organized by VANOC under John Furlong.
Canada won a record 14 gold medals, becoming the first host nation to lead the gold medal count since Norway in 1952. The United States set a record for total Winter Olympic medals with 37. Global television viewership more than doubled that of Turin 2006, and the Canada–USA hockey final drew 114 million viewers worldwide, making it the most watched hockey game in history.
Result
at Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada (also Whistler)