21st Winter Olympics Kick off in Vancouver with Record 82 Nations

Fireworks light up the sky during the Opening Ceremony of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Games, at the BC Place Stadium, Vancouver, Canada, 12 February 2010. Photo by EPA/BGNES

Canada’s Governor-General Michelle Jean officially opened the XXI Winter Olympics in the Canadian city of Vancouver late Friday local time.

“We are once again in Canada, for the third time in the history of the Olympics. After Montreal and Calgary, it is now the turn of the West Coast of Canada to host the Olympic games,” said Jacques Rogge, President of the International Olympic Committee thanking the authorities and the local population including the Native Americans for hosting the winter sports event.

Some 60 000 spectators were present at the opening of the XXI Winter Olympics at the British Columbia Place Stadium and billions of people around the world watched the ceremony live.

A total of 2 500 contestants from the record 82 nations will be competing for medals in 86 disciplines.

The opening featured a dance by representatives of the four Native American tribes on whose land the sports facilities for the Olympics have been built.

“With Nodar Kumaritashvili in our hearts, I commit that the men and women of Vancouver 2010 are ready to deliver the performance of a lifetime,” said John Furlong, the head of the Vancouver Olympics committee, honoring the memory of 21-year-old Georgian lugar Kumaritashvili who died in a crash on Friday during the final training run for the men’s singles event in Whistler, British Columbia. He was thrown off his sled and collided with an unpadded metal support pole outside the track.

Bulgaria’s national flag was carried at the opening by 22-year-old snowboarder Alexandra Jekova, who is believed to have the greatest chances of the Bulgarian team to carry a medal.

Bulgaria’s total number of contestants at the XXI Olympics swelled to 19 after snowboarder Ivan Ranchev also received the opportunity to participate in the games in Vancouver after a reshuffle of the bidders. He will be joining the Bulgarians in Vancouver on Saturday.

The Canadian government estimates that the XXI Winter Olympics will cost a total of USD 730 M, and that the total revenue from it will be USD 3,8 B. Because of the global economic crisis the revenue estimates are down from the previously announced figure of USD 9,5 B.

Some 1 500 protesters from the Olympic Resistance Network bringing together people with various concerns – including environmentalists, poverty fighters, Native Americans – staged an anti-Olympic rally before and during the opening.

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