Olympics Notebook: Vancouver 2010
Olympic ice hockey final, closing ceremony — live
We’re at rinkside in Vancouver to bring you live coverage of the Winter Olympics ice hockey final between Canada and the United States. And join us later for the closing ceremony of these Games.
Winter Olympics, day 15 — live
The final race of the Olympic Alpine skiing programme is underway, with Austria’s Benjamin Raich among the favourites. There are seven medals in play on the penultimate day of competition in Vancouver, Whistler and Cypress and we’ll be here for all of them, so please join us for expert commentary from our reporters on the spot.
Winter Games, day 14 — live
The men’s ice hockey semi-finals pitting the United States against Finland and Canada against Slovakia are the highlights of the day … but with the mayhem of short track speed skating and the women’s curling final there’s plenty of other action to shout about… Join us here today and every day of the Games.
What can London 2012 learn from Vancouver? Seb Coe answers your questions
The 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver were hit at the very start by the tragic death of Georgian luger Nodar Kumaritashvili and for a while the Games struggled to recover, as organisers were faced with problem after problem, from the unseasonably warm weather to transport snarl-ups to scoring problems.
Some even wondered if Vancouver would go on to be called the Worst Games Ever but no one is saying that now, with the action picking up to provide a series of electrifying and heart warming moments while the organisation has settled down.
In fact, Vancouver looks like it will set the bar pretty high for the next Summer Olympics in London in 2012. On Friday, Sebastian Coe, chair of the London 2012 Organising Committee, will be talking to Reuters from the Main Press Centre in Vancouver and will address questions including what London can learn from these Games.
Coe, of course, is himself a double gold medal winner, having triumphed in the 1500m in Moscow in 1980 and again in the same event in Los Angeles four years later.
He will be answering questions in a live chat we’ll be hosting here on Friday at 1600 GMT, talking about London’s preparations for the 2012 Olympics and his own Games experience in Vancouver, where he ran with the torch on the day of the opening ceremony (see the photo above).
If you have questions for Coe, please send them in to the Live Blog within this post, or in the comments below, and join us for the chat on Friday — either at this page or at — for a first-hand look at how things are going before the Five Ring Circus heads to London.
Kevin Fylan, Vancouver
Winter Olympics, day 13 — live
There’s a surprise winner in the women’s giant slalom, and medals to be decided in cross-country skiing, nordic combined, freestyle skiing, women’s hockey and, tonight, one of the most eagerly awaited events of the Games … the women’s figure skating, with the decisive free skate pitting South Korea’s Kim Yuna and Japan’s Mao Asada.
from The Great Debate UK:
What can London 2012 learn from Vancouver? Seb Coe answers your questions
The 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver were hit at the very start by the tragic death of Georgian luger Nodar Kumaritashvili and for a while the Games struggled to recover, as organisers were faced with problem after problem, from the unseasonably warm weather to transport snarl-ups to scoring problems.
Some even wondered if Vancouver would go on to be called the Worst Games Ever but no one is saying that now, with the action picking up to provide a series of electrifying and heart warming moments while the organisation has settled down.
In fact, Vancouver looks like it will set the bar pretty high for the next Summer Olympics in London in 2012. On Friday, Sebastian Coe, chair of the London 2012 Organising Committee, will be talking to Reuters from the Main Press Centre in Vancouver and will address questions including what London can learn from these Games.
Coe, of course, is himself a double gold medal winner, having triumphed in the 1500m in Moscow in 1980 and again in the same event in Los Angeles four years later.
He will be answering questions in a live chat we’ll be hosting here on Friday at 1600 GMT, talking about London’s preparations for the 2012 Olympics and his own Games experience in Vancouver, where he ran with the torch on the day of the opening ceremony (see the photo above).
If you have questions for Coe, please send them in to the Live Blog within this post, or in the comments below, and join us for the chat on Friday -- either at this page or at this link -- for a first-hand look at how things are going before the Five Ring Circus heads to London.
Kevin Fylan, Vancouver
Up close and personal with Olympic gold
I felt like I was floating on cloud nine as I gingerly touched the Olympic gold medal sitting there in my hand and staring back at me.
I’ve dreamed of this moment all my life. Words cannot describe how I’m feeling right now – then the voice of the security woman at the door broke my reverie: “No biting, kissing, licking and chewing of medals in any kind!”
Unfortunately I had not just been crowned an Olympic champion –- unless queue jumping counts as an Olympic sport!
Instead, I had just got a taste of what over 70,000 fans have been queuing up for -– to get an up close and personal look of the Vancouver Olympics medals.
The Olympic accreditation hanging around my neck afforded me the luxury of being fast tracked into the Royal Canadian Mint building but once inside I felt the same excitement as all those members of the public who had stood on their tired legs for up to eight hours.
For the first time at a Games, the general public have been given the chance to inspect, touch and feel a real Olympic medal.
Winter Games, day 12 — live
Lindsey Vonn goes for gold again in the women’s Alpine skiing giant slalom and we’ll be here to follow that and all the action, including some spectacular freestyle skiing late on, on day 12 of the Winter Olympics in Vancouver.
The other event not to be missed is Russia v Canada in the men’s ice hockey quarter-finals, starting at 1630 local time, 1930 ET and 0030 GMT. Can the hosts overcome the Red Machine and keep their golden dream alive? If not, there are going to be a lot of glum faced Canadians on the streets of Vancouver.
A crush that led to Olympic gold
Canadians basking in the warm glow of Scott Moir and Tessa Virtue’s gold medal winning performance in the ice dancing were all asking the same question on Tuesday … Are they as close off the ice as they are on it?
Turns out the answer is no, but things might have turned out diffrerently, as Allan Dowd reports…
“I know I had a crush on Scott, that’s for sure, but I wasn’t alone there,” she told reporters.
“That’s certainly changed,” Moir shot back.
And no, they are certainly not dating now.
“Just on the ice for seven minutes every time we do the program,” Moir joked.
Winter Games, day 11 — live
Canada v Germany in the hockey is the highlight of the Winter Olympics programme today, with the host nation facing a test of nerve in this sudden death play-off.
That’s not all, though, folks, with the men’s giant slalom in alpine skiing one of five medal events.
