It's come down to this... 0 days!

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Nearly seven years of preparation, countless hours of planning, hundreds of helicopter loads of snow and tonight the world gathers together to celebrate sport at the highest level.

Some 97 countries will be participating in the 21st Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver & Whistler. Some delegations will be no greater than a single athlete and flag bearer, some groups will have hundreds of competitors! But they will all strive to do their best and to make us proud.

Now is the time to join in the celebration of sport, to put our differences behind us, and to enjoy the an example of shining moments for the people of this place we call earth.

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My Tickets Arrived...

Well today was a pretty exciting day for me... I received a special package in the mail from COVAN (the French spelling of VANOC)!

The package was my Olympic Tickets for the Vancouver 2010 games as well as an Official Spectator Guide will all sorts of fun facts, schedules, maps, and more!

Here's a picture of the package...


I'll update you on more details from the Official Spectator Guide over the coming weeks...

Vancouver 2010 Video Game Style...

Made by SEGA available for XBOX360, PS3, and Games for Windows.

2 New 2010 Ticketing Opportunities @ 10AM

VANOC has just released two more amazing Olympic opportunities for 2010...

1) Figure Skating Training Sessions
Watch the world's best figure skating athletes practice at the Pacific Coliseum before they go head-to-head in competition. Tickets are only $30*, while supplies last.

Date / Time / Training Session

Feb 13 07:00–13:00 Pairs/Men
Feb 15 07:00–13:00 Men/Pairs
Feb 18 07:00–13:00 Men/Ice Dance
Feb 20 07:00–13:00 Ladies/Ice Dance
Feb 21 07:00–12:00 Ice Dance/Ladies
Feb 22 07:00–13:00 Ice Dance/Ladies
Feb 24 07:00–12:10 Ladies

Please note: use of training time is at the discretion of the athletes and their coaching staff. Athlete appearances are not guaranteed.

2) Paralympic Closing Ceremony
This unique, large-scale celebration will celebrate the world's greatest Paralympic athletes while capturing the spirit and personality of Whistler, British Columbia and Canada. The Paralympic Closing Ceremony will take place on March 21, 2010 at Whistler Medals Plaza, a beautiful outdoor venue in the heart of Whistler. Tickets are only $60*, while supplies last.

Purchase these online TODAY, starting at 10AM PST from Vancouver2010.com/tickets.

Olympic Ticket Prices

Sounds like there's some misinformation regarding ticket prices for the 2010 games in Vancouver so we'd like to dispel some of that.

Ticket prices start as low as $22CDN!

For Vancouver victory ceremonies at BC Place stadium, the same location of the Opening & Closing ceremonies, all tickets are only $22!

For sport events you can find tickets for as low as $25CDN!

For a complete list of ticket prices click here.

Please note, in this 3rd and final round of ticket sales all price categories may not be available.

Vancouver 2010 Torch Relay Begins!

The first torchbearers, former Canadian speed skater Catriona Le May Doan (R) and her compatriot tri-athlete Simon Whitfield, light the Olympic Torch following its arrival in Victoria, British Columbia, October 30, 2009.
Photograph by: Reuters, Reuters


What started in 1998 as the selection of Vancouver by the Canadian Olympic Committee as it's preferred city, turned in the International Olympic Committee endorsing Vancouver as the host for the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in July of 2003, has now reached the final countdown, notably marked by the Olympic Torch Relay.

In less than 105 days Vancouver and Whistler will host the world starting with the lighting of the Olypmic Flame at the Opening Ceremonies in Vancouver at BC Place Stadium with some 60,000+ attendees!

You can follow all the Olympic Torch Relay details at Vancouver2010.com.

IOC - Best of Us - Ad 1

Six Months to Go!

In only 6 months the world will officially be watching the 2010 Opening Ceremonies in Vancouver's BC Place Stadium.

Read more here.

Vintage Vancouver 2010 Bid Video

So maybe it's a stretch to call 7 years ago "vintage" but it's still a ways back in history.

This was the original Vancouver 2010 Olympic bid video.

Vancouver's Athletes Village Claims First Victim

The Vancouver city official in charge of overseeing the Athletes Village has resigned, reports suggest.

Jody Andrew's departure has been abrupt and there is no word yet of who is in line to replace him.

Read more on his departure here.

More information on the beleaguered Olympic Village here.

With Glowing Hearts

Version Francais:

Ticket Update

Well, it's now December 10, 2008 and the tickets that have been allocated to those who applied are supposed to have been processed and billed with email notification coming today.

We have to be honest here and say that we have not yet seen a charge on our Visa, nor has the available balance decreased in relation to a charge that's pending.

We've still got our fingers crossed and we'll have to wait and see.

We'll keep you updated as we learn more.

Additional tickets are scheduled to be made available starting December 12.

Vancouver 2010 Torch Route Announced

It will take 100 days and travel nearly 45,000 kilometers as it criss-crosses across Canada. The relay will start in Victoria, travel through the Queen Charlotte Islands before visiting each and every territory and province of Canada.

Read more here.

Ticket Requests Set Records

It's no surprise that Canadians are passionate about winter sport, afterall some folks from other countries aren't even aware that Canada has a summer (as short as it may be in some parts of the country). But the desire for Olympic sport has far surpassed expectations.

In the period from October 3 through November 7 nearly $350M worth of tickets were applied for. 120 of 170 events will have there ticket purchases determined through lottery.

A couple highlights:

• Total value of tickets requested by Canadian residents from October 3 to November 7: $345 million

  • Value of tickets requested on November 7 alone: $135 million

• An estimated 120 of 170 sessions will be allocated by lottery

• The Opening and Closing Ceremonies, as well as all figure skating, short track speed skating, speed skating and men's ice hockey (from quarter-finals onward) are among the sessions that will go to lottery

• More than 140,000 tickets were requested for the men’s gold medal hockey game

• More than 84,000 tickets were requested for the Opening Ceremony

• More than 27,000 tickets were requested for the men’s halfpipe snowboard session

Read more here.

Last Day to Complete Your 2010 Ticket Application

Today is the last day to complete your ticket application for the 2010 Olympics prior to the lottery period.

There will still be an opportunity for events that have tickets remaining, but all or most of the hot tickets will be gone after this period.

To see all of the posts we have made about tickets click here.

To read entire articles on tickets, what's available, and how the process seems to be going click here.

Happy Ticketing!!!

Ticket Deadline :: October 29

No need to worry if you're using the official card of the Olympic games, but if you're not planning to pay by VISA then you'll need to have your request along with your cheque or money order post-marked no later than October 29.

Online applications using VISA have until November 7, 2008 to be completed.

Happy Ticketing.

More info on tickets here.

Olympic Ticketing Guide

In less than one week tickets to the 2010 Olympic Games can be applied for from the organizers of the Vancouver/Whistler games.

Today the organizing committee, VANOC, has released a comprehensive ticketing guide that helps show how truly affordable much of the games will be. Of course hot-tickets will demand a premium not only now, but certainly in resales (if they're permitted!).

Some 400,000 tickets will be priced at only $25 and over half of all available tickets will be priced less than $100 each.

For a comprehensive article on the ticketing guide please read here.

Stay tuned for more info as the week goes on!

With Glowing Hearts

The organizers of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic & Paralympic Winter Games have officially unveiled the motto of the games as "With Glowing Hearts".

The world will be welcomed to Vancouver & Whistler with this motto that sums up the hearts of Canadians. The motto comes straight from our National anthem "With Glowing Hearts... we see thee rise, the true, North, strong and free..."

Read more about the choosing of this phrase that you'll be hearing a lot of over the next couple years here.

VSO Records National Anthems

The Vancouver Symphony Orchestra (VSO) has brought together the entire 78-piece orchestra to record some 200 National anthems over the course of three days for the upcoming Vancouver 2010 Olympic Games.

Here are two samples: Canada & Algeria.

Visit our FREE forums for more info.

More Ticket Info from VANOC

VANOC has released more information about the Olympic Experience Packages (OEPs) discussed in this previous post.

For an in-depth article please visit our free forum. (No registration required for viewing)

Some example OEPs:

City packages: (25 in total)
City OEP1: $1,032
Feb. 12, Opening ceremony.
Feb. 13, Women's hockey preliminary.
Feb. 14, Speed skating, 3,000 metre final.
Feb. 14, Vancouver victory ceremony at BC Place Stadium.

City OEP2: $457
Feb. 13, Short-track speed skating, women's 500 metre qualification, women's 3,000 metre relay qualification, men's 1,500 metre qualification/ final.
Feb. 14, Figure skating, pairs short program.
Feb. 15, Women's hockey preliminary.
Feb. 16. Vancouver victory ceremony at BC Place Stadium.

Whistler packages (eight in total)

Whistler OEP 2: $220
Feb. 12, Men's ski jumping.
Feb. 13, Men's alpine skiing, downhill.
Feb. 14, Men's luge singles final.

Mixed (City and Whistler events) packages (17 in total)
Mixed OEP 1: $750
Feb. 12, Opening ceremony.
Feb. 13, Women's freestyle skiing, qualification and final.
Feb. 14, Men's Nordic combined event.
Mixed OEP 2: $850
Feb. 12, Opening Ceremony.
Feb. 13, Biathlon, women's 7.5 k sprint.
Feb. 14, Women's hockey preliminary.

Local packages, eight in total (five city and three Whistler-specific), which package four to six events spread over weekends and evenings.

Local City OEP 1: $1,267
Feb. 12, Opening ceremony.
Feb. 17, Men's preliminary hockey.
Feb. 18, Women's snowboarding, halfpipe qualification/ semifinal/ final.
Feb. 18, Vancouver victory ceremony at BC Place Stadium.
Feb. 20, Women's curling qualification.
Feb. 20, Women's hockey semifinal.

Local City OEP2: $352
Feb. 13, Women's freestyle skiing, moguls qualifications and final.
Feb. 17, Men's hockey preliminary.
Feb. 19, Vancouver victory ceremony at BC Place Stadium.
Feb. 20, Men's curling qualification.
Feb. 24, short-track speed skating, women's 1,000-metre qualification, men's 500-metre qualification and women's 3,000 metre relay final.

Local Whistler OEP 1: $335
Feb. 13, Men's ski jumping, normal hill individual final.
Feb. 17, Men's luge doubles, runs 1 and 2 final.
Feb. 20, Cross-country skiing, men's 15 + 15 k pursuit.
Feb. 21, Alpine skiing, men's giant slalom, qualification/ final.
Feb. 26, Biathlon, men's 4 x 7.5 k relay.
Feb. 27, Bobsleigh, men's four-man runs 1 and 4 final.

Visit here for more examples.