2010 Winter Olympics facts for kids

The 2010 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XXI Olympic Winter Games, were the Winter Olympics that were held in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada in 2010. Both the Olympic and Paralympic Games were organized by the Vancouver Organizing Committee (VANOC). The XXI Olympic Winter Games were held from February 14 2010 to February 28 2010. Many of the 2010 events were held in the nearby resort community called Whistler, about an hour's drive north of Vancouver.

The 2010 Winter Olympics is the third Olympics hosted by Canada, and the first by the province of British Columbia. Previously, Canada was home to the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal and the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary. The villages of Whistler and Garibaldi bid for the games in 1976 but failed to win.

Participating nations

82 National Olympic Committees had teams in the 2010 Winter Olympics. Cayman Islands, Colombia, Ghana, Montenegro, Pakistan, Peru and Serbia were in their first winter Olympics. Also Jamaica, Mexico and Morocco came back to the Games after missing the Turin Games.

Countries that took part in the 2010 Winter Olympics (in green).

Costa Rica, Kenya, Luxembourg, Madagascar, Thailand, United States Virgin Islands and Venezuela did not join the 2010 Winter Olympics.

Sports

Fifteen winter sports events were in the 2010 Winter Olympics. The eight sports grouped as ice sports were: bobsled, luge, skeleton, ice hockey, figure skating, speed skating, short track speed skating and curling. The three sports grouped as alpine skiing and snowboarding events were: alpine skiing, freestyle skiing and snowboarding. The four sports grouped as Nordic events were: biathlon, cross-country skiing, ski jumping and Nordic combined.

Numbers in parentheses show the number of medal events for each sport.

The opening and closing ceremonies and the events grouped as ice sports (excluding bobsleigh, luge and skeleton) were held in Vancouver and Richmond. The sports grouped as "Nordic events" were held in the Callaghan Valley near Whistler. All alpine skiing events were held on Whistler Mountain (Creekside) and sliding events (bobsleigh, luge and skeleton) were held on Blackcomb Mountain. Cypress Mountain was the place for the freestyle skiing (aerials, moguls and ski cross), and all snowboard events (half-pipe, parallel giant slalom, snowboard cross).

Vancouver 2010 was the first winter Olympics that both men's and women's hockey were played on a narrower, NHL-sized ice rink, measuring 200 ft × 85 ft (61 m × 26 m), instead of the international size of 200 ft × 98.5 ft (61 m × 30 m). The games were played at General Motors Place, home of the NHL's Vancouver Canucks, which was temporarily renamed Canada Hockey Place for the time of the Olympics. This change saved $10 million in construction costs and allowed an additional 35,000 spectators to attend Olympic hockey games. However, some European countries felt this would give North American players an advantage since they grew up playing on the smaller NHL-sized rinks.

Medal table

Here is the top of the medal table at the end of the games.

Medal numbers shown in bold are the highest in their section. Canada, the host nation is highlighted in lavender.

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Canada (CAN)	14	7	5	26
2	Germany (GER)	10	13	7	30
3	United States (USA)	9	15	13	37
4	Norway (NOR)	9	8	6	23
5	South Korea (KOR)	6	6	2	14
6	Switzerland (SUI)	6	0	3	9
7	China (CHN)	5	2	4	11
7	Sweden (SWE)	5	2	4	11
9	Austria (AUT)	4	6	6	16
10	Netherlands (NED)	4	1	3	8

Olympic Games
Summer Games: 1896, 1900, 1904, 1906, 1908, 1912, (1916), 1920, 1924, 1928, 1932, 1936, (1940), (1944), 1948, 1952, 1956, 1960, 1964, 1968, 1972, 1976, 1980, 1984, 1988, 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012, 2016, 2020, 2024, 2028
Winter Games: 1924, 1928, 1932, 1936, (1940), (1944), 1948, 1952, 1956, 1960, 1964, 1968, 1972, 1976, 1980, 1984, 1988, 1992, 1994, 1998, 2002, 2006, 2010, 2014, 2018, 2022
Athens 2004 — Turin 2006 — Beijing 2008 — Vancouver 2010 — London 2012 — Sochi 2014 — Rio 2016 — Pyeongchang 2018 — Tokyo 2020 Games in italics will be held in the future, and those in (brackets) were cancelled because of war. See also: Ancient Olympic Games

Youth Olympic Games
Summer Games: 2010, 2014, 2018
Winter Games: 2012, 2016, 2020
Singapore 2010 — Innsbruck 2012 — Nanjing 2014

Images for kids

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  Olympic sites map

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  Richmond Olympic Oval: speed skating long track venue

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  The clock counting down to the opening of the Olympic Games in Downtown Vancouver

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  Sidney Crosby celebrates moments after scoring the gold medal-winning goal over the United States.

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  Prime Minister of Canada Stephen Harper and Governor General of Canada Michaelle Jean at the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympic Games Heads of State Reception

See also

In Spanish: Juegos Olímpicos de Vancouver 2010 para niños