The Olympic Cauldron

Two and a half weeks sure go by pretty quickly. The world had their eyes on the west coast of Canada as athletes from all walks of life competed in their respective winter sports. The streets of Vancouver were jam-packed with hundreds of thousands of fans cheering on their countries and taking in the sights and sounds of the various events throughout the city. So much happened in the 17 days the Winter Olympics that it’s almost impossible to go through it all, but here’s a portion of what made the list.

Highs

• Joannie Rochette and her courage to overcome a tragic loss and capture the hearts of her home and the world
• Sidney Crosby scoring the winning goal in overtime between Canada and the United States to take the gold medal
• Ryan Miller helping his team beat all odds and prove they are a medal contender
• Alexandre Bilodeau for ending the drought and his brother Frédéric for giving him the power to get there
• Kim Yu-Na for delivering one hell of a performance
• The Canadian women’s hockey team for their unstoppable play
• The obnoxiously awesome pants worn by the Norwegian curlers
• Lindsey Vonn for being the first American woman to win gold in downhill skiing (and with a bruised shin)
• Having the mime electrician give Catriona Le May Doan the chance to light her portion of the Olympic Cauldron
• Petra Majdič for continuing on despite painful injuries caused by an unfortunate fall
• The awesome opening and closing ceremonies showcasing the real Canada (minus a small glitch)
• The 14 gold medals Canada earned — our best ever and a record for the Winter Olympics
• The hundreds of volunteers to help out and assist the many out of town guests
• And the hundreds of thousands of supporters, visitors and fans who crammed downtown Vancouver and Whistler to deliver the best party this country has ever seen

Lows

• The shocking loss of Nodar Kumaritashvili in an accident while training
• El Niño for bringing unseasonable warmth and impacting a number of events on Cypress Mountain
• The hooligans who had nothing better to do than showcase their idiocy for the world (fortunately for one day only)
• The British media with their scathing criticisms on anything and everything
• NBC for cutting short broadcasts of events, or skipping them entirely

As a resident of Metro Vancouver, I want to say a huge thank you to everyone for making this possible. We hope you enjoyed the games and our city, and would love to see you all back here again soon!