2009 News

Ceremonies Kick Off 100-Day Countdown to Olympics

www.cbc.ca

November 4, 2009

As the countdown for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver hit the 100-day mark Wednesday, celebrations to promote the international event were held in several locations, from Whistler, B.C., to Washington, D.C.

The main celebrations were in Whistler, but Vancouver marked the occasion by officially handing over the $1-billion athlete's village to the Olympic organizing committee.

Vancouver also got a glimpse of a spectacle that will light up the city's Burrard Inlet from now until the end of the Games in March 2010.

Five massive Olympic rings aboard a barge in the inlet were turned on for the first time in a ceremony hosted by Premier Gordon Campbell and Games CEO John Furlong.

Earlier Wednesday, local and international media were invited for the unveiling. TV crews from Mexico, Germany and South Korea were taping everything, from the toilets and taps in the athletes' quarters to the view of downtown across the water.

Some Olympians on hand liked what they saw, not surprisingly. One 1,700-square-foot condo — with mountain views — on Wednesday's tour could eventually sell for $2 million. But before that, it will be home to four athletes.

"After you have done training or competing for that day, you need a place to unwind and the more comfortable, the better," said Brad Linnea, a paralympian at the Games in Torino in 2006.

Elsewhere, Montreal hosted an event to promote the Games among francophones, and Canada's ambassador to the U.S. threw a party to unveil a countdown clock at the Canadian Embassy in Washington, D.C.

The 2010 Winter Olympics will be held in Vancouver and Whistler Feb. 12-28, 2010, with the Paralympic Games following in March.