Canada Hits Three-Peak As 21St Winter Olympics Opens in Vancouver 14:01, February 13, 2010

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Canada Hits Three-Peak As 21St Winter Olympics Opens in Vancouver 14:01, February 13, 2010 Canada hits three-peak as 21st Winter Olympics opens in Vancouver 14:01, February 13, 2010 Michaelle Jean, Canada's first ever black woman Governor General, officially declared the opening of the 21st Winter Olympic Games here on Friday evening. Jacques Rogge (R), President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), delivers a speech during the opening ceremony for the 2010 Winter Olympic Games inside the BC Place stadium in Vancouver, Canada on Feb. 12, 2010. (Xinhua/Wu Wei) The Games, to run through Feb. 28, offers 86 golds for grabs from 15 disciplines in seven sports, namely, skating, skiing, biathlon, luge, bobsled, curling and ice hockey. Thirty-four years away from Montreal Summer Games and 22 years after Calgary, Canada again embraces the Rings for the third time as the 21st Winter Olympics unveiled its curtain at a roof-closed stadium, the first time in the Winter Olympic history. And it comes the best chance in decades for Canada to shake off its nagging scar of being the Olympic host country twice without winning a single gold medal either. Five notable Canadian athletes performed the final leg of the relay of the torch that has traveled over 45,000 kilometers for 106 days. Rick Hansen, Canada's Man in Motion, passed off the flame to a quartet of athletes within the stadium. Speed skating multi Olympic gold winner Catriona LeMay Doan, NBA star point guard Steve Nash, Alpine skiing Olympic winner Nancy Greene Raine and Wayne Gretzky, one of the most honoured hockey players of all time, lit a contemporary cauldron that emerged from the field of play. To ensure the Olympic flame burn for the full 17 days of the Games, an external cauldron was ignited by Gretzky who carried the flame from BC Place to the Vancouver waterfront. An audience of 60,000 in the full-packed B.C. Place and an estimated one billion viewers around the globe witnessed the opening moments of the Games which also attracted some 10,000 accredited media and 25,000 volunteers. About 40 overseas dignitaries were in attendance, including U.S.vice president Joe Biden. Hours before the ceremony started at 1800 local time, the world was shocked by the astonishing news of Georgia luger Nodar Kumaritashvili who died at hospital after a tragic crash during official training. Flags were lowered to half-mast during the opening ceremony, and the Georgian athletes wore black armbands and a black ribbon was tightened to the Georgian flag to symbolize their mourning. IOC president Jacques Rogge made a statement about the athlete's untimely death and expressed sincere condolences. The men's luge is scheduled to begin on Saturday while the Games competitions kicked off Friday morning with qualifying sessions of ski jumping at the ski resort of Whistler. At the ceremony, representatives of the 2,600 athletes from 82 countries and regions took the parade, starting as usual with Greece, the country that nurtured the Olympic Games over 2,800 years ago, and ending with the hosts. Han Xiaopeng, the Olympic freestyle aerials champion in Turin, bore the flag for the largest ever Chinese delegation, which is sending 90 athletes to compete in 49 events of 10 disciplines, mainly pinning medal hopes in short track, figure skating and freestyle skiing. The Democratic People's Republic of Korea and South Korea marched onto the stage separately, while four years ago in Turin, both teams matched together under a flag with an image of the Korean peninsula for the first time in winter games history. Germany, led by three-time Olympic champion Michael Greis and a strong field of skiing experts, is hot favorite to dominate the Games for the fourth consecutive time. Russia, with more than 170 athletes, and the United States of a 216-strong team, are also seeking to regain superpower status. For some sunny nations, however, they have already been winners just by sending their entries to the Winter Olympics. The Olympic flame is lit during the opening ceremony for the 2010 Winter Olympic Games inside the BC Place stadium in Vancouver, Canada on Feb. 12, 2010. (Xinhua/Yang Lei) Skiers competing for Algeria, Morocco, as well as Senegal, Ghanaand Ethiopia of Africa, will fly to the spotlight at the Whistler Olympic Park, while in Vancouver, athletes from Latin America, including Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Peru, will try to prove that they are not only strong on the green field. Athletes from Iran, India, Pakistan, Bermuda, Cayman Islands and Jamaica will also compete in winter games. For host Canada, it's reasonable to ask for more after it remains the only one that hosted the Olympics twice before -- the Summer Games in Montreal in 1976 and the Calgary Winter Games in 1988 -- but not yet celebrated a gold-medal victory on home soil. Having finished third, fourth and fifth since 1998 till 2006, the Maple country fielded its largest delegation, hoping to reap its first gold in front of the home audience. Before the Games kicked off, however, the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games (VANOC) has claimed its own medal on the anti-doping war. David Howman, director general of the World Anti-Doping Agency, announced Thursday that pre-Games testings resulted in the barring of 30 athletes, a total of 634 doping tests have been conducted so far and more than 2,000 tests will be taken during the Games. The national flag of Canada is raised during the opening ceremony for the 2010 Winter Olympic Games inside the BC Place stadium in Vancouver, Canada, on Feb. 12, 2010. (Xinhua/Wu Wei) Russian ice hockey woman player Svetlana Terenteva is the only positive one in an out-of- competition test for a stimulant that is prohibited in competition. She was reprimanded. But there's yet a battle that the organizers could never win -- against the weather. "It's out of our control. Weather has not been our friend, and continues to challenge us," said Cathy Priestner Allinger, executive vice president of sport. The women's downhill training at Whistler Creekside was scuttled after two runs because of fog on Thursday while men's training went ahead for 85 athletes. In order to protect the snow and build up stockpiles, Cypress Mountain ski area has been closed since one month ago and crews began pushing snow down from higher altitudes and even from adjacent Mount Strachan to add to man-made snow on the fields of play. To ensure the success of the Games, VANOC has been empowered with a budget of 1.7 billion Canadian dollars, including 580 million for venues and 900 million for security, after a sorrow memory of the 1976 Montreal Summer Games which left a debt that took years to pay off. "Source: Xinhua" .
Recommended publications
  • Terry Fox Information Booklet
    Terry Fox Information Booklet TERRYFOX.ORG / 1 888 836-9786 2016 Terry Fox Info ENGLISH.indd 1 6/20/2016 11:25:44 AM Terry’s Letter: October, 1979 The night before my amputation, my former basketball coach brought me a magazine with an article on an amputee who ran in the New York Marathon. It was then I decided to meet this new challenge head on and not only overcome my disability, but conquer it in such a way that I could never look back and say it disabled me. But I soon realized that that would only be half my quest, for as I went through the 16 months of the physically and emotionally draining ordeal of chemotherapy, I was rudely awakened by the feelings that surrounded and coursed through the cancer clinic. There were faces with the brave smiles and the ones who had given up smiling. There were feelings of hopeful denial and the feelings of despair. My quest would not be a selfish one. I could not leave knowing these faces and feelings would still exist, even though I would be set free from mine. Somewhere the hurting must stop…and I was determined to take myself to the limit for this cause. From the beginning the going was extremely difficult, and I was facing chronic ailments foreign to runners with two legs in addition to the common physical strains felt by all dedicated athletes. But these problems are now behind me, as I have either out- persisted or learned to deal with them. I feel strong not only physically, but more important, emotionally.
    [Show full text]
  • ELA Summer Bridge Packet
    West Allegheny School District 8th Grade ELA Summer Academic Pre-Work Promoting Literacy Today a Reader, Tomorrow a Leader Summer of 2021 Dear Parents, Guardians, and Students Entering 8th Grade, Summer is a wonderful time for families to participate in the education of their children. During the summer months many students experience a summer regression of basic reading and math skills. While this is concerning, there is an easy way to minimize the regression, by participating in the Summer Academic Pre- Work Program! Similar to our golf swings or level of fitness, academic skills regress when not practiced. Research suggests that the average learning regression during the summer months for students in reading equates to two months of instruction (Entwisle, Alexander, & Olson 2001; Cooper, H., Nye, B, et al, 1996). The Summer Academic Pre-Work Learning Program is designed to help your child maintain and possibly increase his/her academic skills through practice of important skills. Recommendations for the Summer Academic Pre-Work Program were made through the collaboration of a committee of teachers, superintendent’s parent advisory committee, and administrators. Please engage your child in the outlined academic activities. When your child returns to school in the fall, please send the completed ELA Summer Academic Pre-Work with your child so he/she can receive our congratulations and a reward for completing the program in addition to earning points toward his/her first quarter ELA grade. Thank you for participating in the Summer Academic Pre-Work Learning Program. WAMS ELA Summer Academic Pre-Work highlights are as follows: ➢ An incentive is included for turning in ELA assignments on the first day of school.
    [Show full text]
  • CTV Re Coverage of the Fatal Luge Accident at the 2010 Winter Olympic Games
    CANADIAN BROADCAST STANDARDS COUNCIL NATIONAL CONVENTIONAL TELEVISION PANEL CTV re coverage of the fatal luge accident at the 2010 Winter Olympic Games (CBSC Decision 09/10-0895+) Decided November 12, 2010 R. Cohen (Chair), H. Pawley (Vice-Chair, Public), D. Braun (ad hoc), M. Harris (ad hoc), F. Niemi, T. Reeb THE FACTS On February 12, 2010, just prior to the commencement of the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, a Georgian luge athlete named Nodar Kumaritashvili experienced a tragic accident during a practice run at the Whistler Sliding Centre. He flew off his luge coming out of a steep turn (corner 16, called “Thunderbird”), was projected off the track, and struck one of the support posts. The accident was caught on film by CTV (a member of the Olympic Broadcast Media Consortium and the principal English- language broadcaster of the Games), and was broadcast at various times that day, both as news of the accident was breaking and again later once it had been confirmed that Kumaritashvili had died from his injuries. The video was approximately 40 seconds in duration. It showed Kumaritashvili going down the luge track at a very fast speed (said to be 143 km/h). Multiple cameras were placed along the track so that the television audience could see his and all other runs from different points along the track and at different angles. When the luger flew off the sled, viewers heard a clang, which was presumably the sound of the luger’s helmet hitting the post. Kumaritashvili’s limp body was partially obscured by other posts in front of the camera, but the CTV audience saw a number of people, mainly on-site medics, running towards the man.
    [Show full text]
  • Performance Studies, Sport, and Affect in the Twenty-First Century
    Performance Studies, Sport, and Affect in the Twenty-First Century by Kelsey Blair M.A., University of British Columbia, 2014 M.A., University of Toronto, 2010 B.A., University of British Columbia, 2007 Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of English Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences © Kelsey Blair 2019 SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY Spring 2019 Copyright in this work rests with the author. Please ensure that any reproduction or re-use is done in accordance with the relevant national copyright legislation. Approval Name: Kelsey Blair Degree: Doctor of Philosophy Title: Performance Studies, Sport, and Affect in the Twenty-First Century Examining Committee: Chair: Clint Burnham Professor Peter Dickinson Senior Supervisor Professor Dara Culhane Supervisor Professor Coleman Nye Supervisor Assistant Professor Ann Travers Internal Examiner Associate Professor Department of Sociology and Anthropology Susan Bennett External Examiner Professor Department of English University of Calgary Date Defended/Approved: April 16, 2019 ii Abstract Richard Schechner, one of the founders of performance studies, urges scholars to expand their conceptualization of performance to include a broad spectrum of framed and/or displayed human behaviours. While this call to action has strongly influenced the interdisciplinary impulse of performance studies and prompted important cross- disciplinary investigations between performance genres such as theatre, dance, performance art, political performance, ritual, and play, sport has remained under- theorized in the field. In this project, I begin to fill this gap by approaching the practices, activities, and events of twenty-first century sport through the lens of performance studies.
    [Show full text]
  • Four Stages of Highly Effective Crisis Management
    Jordan-Meier Communication/Media From the BP oil spill and the Egyptian revolution to the Haitian earthquake and the Australian floods, social media has proven its power to unite, coalesce, support, champion, and save lives. Presenting cutting-edge media communication solutions, The Four Stages of Highly Effective Crisis Management explains how to choose the appropriate language and media outlet to properly convey your message during and after a crisis. The Four Stages Highly Effective of Crisis Management Four The Unveiling the secrets of how to manage the media in a crisis, the book examines how rapidly evolving social media and Web 2.0 technologies have changed the crisis management landscape. It illustrates the four distinct stages of media reporting during a crisis and details the information that must be provided. The author provides readers with a wealth of helpful tips and tools—including guidelines, checklists, and case studies that illustrate best practices in crisis media management. Divided into five sections, the book: • Examines how the kingdom of news has changed and considers the new hybrid model that is emerging • Identifies the four distinct stages in which both old and new media report a crisis • Addresses the use of spokespeople according to the four stages, as well as when to use the chief executive officer • Discusses media interviews, including how to handle news conferences, bloggers, and the importance of media training • Considers the communication aspects of crisis management—including how to harness the power of Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Digg, Wikipedia, Flickr, and social media releases The book’s resource-rich appendices include a checklist for briefing a spokesperson, sample media release, a step-by-step flowchart for creating a crisis communication plan, and social media policy guidelines.
    [Show full text]
  • BC Wheelchair Basketball Society 2010-11 Annual Report
    BC Wheelchair Basketball Society 2010-11 Annual Report From the Office: In typical BC Wheelchair Basketball fashion we took to the court in high gear early in 2010-11 and never looked back. The 2010-11 season was one of our busiest ever with expanded programming in both the participation based and high performance areas, enhanced coaching and officials development, and the introduction of our Let's Play program focused on kids 8 years old and younger across BC. Our thanks to Mike Prescott for his work in this very successful program! Our regional programming was also enhanced through the developing clubs in Comox and Powell River. Congratulations to club leaders Karin Kratz and Lindsay Peake for your work in these new areas. BCWBS's success is a direct result of our volunteer leaders, coaches, dedicated partners and hard-working staff. I am always proud to be a part of the community which is BC Wheelchair Basketball. I would also like to take the time to express our sincere sadness in the passing of past athlete, board member, and friend MJ Boudreault. MJ, you will be sincerely missed. - Carrie Linegar, Managing Director Athlete Development / Participation Based Programming: Let’s Play: The Let’s Play program is helping kids with physical disabilities become physically active early in life... and encouraging them to stay that way. The program is intended to help kids with mobility limitations to become physically active early in life by helping to establish the fundamental skills, knowledge and abilities needed to confidently participate in play, sport and physical education with their peers.
    [Show full text]
  • THE PRINCE of PLAY Archie Allison Rules the Court of Inclusion
    THE PRINCE OF PLAY Archie Allison Rules the Court of Inclusion By Jeff Tiessen As a teenager, the idea of working with kids with dis- community groups and organizations and teach courses in abilities was never part of Archie Allison’s career plan. adapted sports and disability issues at several local commu- It took a fortuitous high school co-op placement, just nity colleges and the University of Toronto. Where I used to across the parking lot from his Scarborough, Ont., work more with our next generation of activity enthusiasts school, to change that. Just one week in the company with disabilities, I’m now reaching out to our next generation of the staff, students and participants at world-re- of educators and sports and rec professionals. nowned Variety Village and he was hooked. He knew P2P: You also oversee the facility’s Cooperative what he wanted to do with his working life. Education and Ability in Action programs, right? Archie was instantly motivated by the infectious spirit of Archie: Yes, they’re both really important programs here too. his future place of employment, its welcoming charm and The Ability in Action program sees over 8,000 participants – character, the abilities of its participants and their tremen- students and teachers – come to Variety Village each year for dous desire to be involved and active. That was 26 years an introduction to adaptive sport equipment and the impor- ago. Even as a teen, he explains, it was easy to see how tance of inclusion in play, recreation and sport. The program Variety Village transcended stereotypes, prejudice and is open to students with and without disabilities, encouraging segregation.
    [Show full text]
  • Proud and Strong 2017 and Beyond
    Proud and Strong 2017 and Beyond Rosie MacLennan Olympic Trampoline Gymnast Identity & Citizenship Gordon Pinsent 2 Film Director, Actor, Poet, Playwright Identity & Citizenship The Canadian Icons Project / Canadian Change Conversations celebrate our identity and citizenship. Launched in conjunction with Canada’s 150th Anniversary, these initiatives create a place and space, physical and virtual, for conversations about issues that are shaping our society today and tomorrow. The goal is to reflect on our achievements – but also to deepen engagement, inspire positive action, and promote change and innovation that make our communities and nation even stronger and more sustainable. 63 Identity & Citizenship The Canadian Icons Project is a photographic and multimedia showcase of 150 iconic Canadians whose contributions have been felt across Canada and around the world, and who chronicle our nation’s diversity, creativity and achievements. The Canadian Change Conversations creates a platform to engage the Icons and Canadians at large in a series of narratives and demonstration projects designed to inform, challenge and change how we see our communities, our nation, our world and ourselves. Harnessing the power of Canadian Icons who serve to inspire, motivate and lead social change; exploring voices of citizens who help shape and move our communities; and supporting experimental 'makerspaces' to demonstrate responses and potential, the Canadian Icons Project / Canadian Change Conversations together encourage critical conversations designed to activate citizenship aimed at positive social change and innovation. 64 Don Dixon Creator, Director & Photographer of the Canadian Icons Project "Five years ago, with the help of some of Canada’s most talented communications and media industry experts, I began my journey – to photograph and interview Canada’s most accomplished living icons, in celebration of Canada's Sesquicentennial.
    [Show full text]
  • Flnal REPORT of the Loc Coordlnatlon Commlsslon
    FINAL REPORT OF THE IOC INTERNATIONAL OLYMPIC COMMITTEE CHÂTEAU DE VIDY, 1007 LAUSANNE, SWITZERLAND COORDINATION COMMISSION www.olympic.org XXI OLYMPIC WINTER GAMES, VANCOUVER 2010 F I NAL REP O RT OF THE IO C COO RD I NAT IO N CO MM I SS IO n – VANC O U V ER 2010 FINAL REPORT OF THE IOC COORDINATION COMMISSION XXI OLYMPIC WINTER GAMES, VANCOUVER 2010 © International Olympic Committee Château de Vidy – C.P. 356 – CH-1007 Lausanne / Switzerland Tel. +41 21 621 61 11 – Fax +41 21 621 62 16 www.olympic.org Published by the International Olympic Committee – May 2011 All rights reserved Printing by DidWeDo S.à.r.l., Lausanne, Switzerland Printed in Switzerland DELIVERING A VISION MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT OF THE InternatiONAL Olympic COMMITTEE JACQUES ROGGE The Olympic Games have prospered for more than a century by adhering to enduring values while undergoing constant renewal and improvement. Vancouver 2010 celebrated the Olympic values and contributed to the advancement of the entire Olympic Movement in a number of positive ways. More than a year after these Games were staged, the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Winter Games slogan “With Glowing Hearts” continues to resonate in our memories. The festive, friendly spirit on the streets as well as in and around the venues was among the best I have experienced at any edition of the Games. The athletes’ performances were stunning and largely facilitated by the fantastic venues and great know-how that we witnessed across all venues. Organising the Olympic Games is a complex, long-term task that requires creativity, financial discipline and close cooperation with a wide variety of stakeholders.
    [Show full text]
  • Spinal Cord Injury Cord Spinal on Perspectives International
    INTERNATIONAL PERSPECTIVES ON SPINAL CORD INJURY “Spinal cord injury need not be a death sentence. But this requires e ective emergency response and proper rehabilitation services, which are currently not available to the majority of people in the world. Once we have ensured survival, then the next step is to promote the human rights of people with spinal cord injury, alongside other persons with disabilities. All this is as much about awareness as it is about resources. I welcome this important report, because it will contribute to improved understanding and therefore better practice.” SHUAIB CHALKEN, UN SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR ON DISABILITY “Spina bi da is no obstacle to a full and useful life. I’ve been a Paralympic champion, a wife, a mother, a broadcaster and a member of the upper house of the British Parliament. It’s taken grit and dedication, but I’m certainly not superhuman. All of this was only made possible because I could rely on good healthcare, inclusive education, appropriate wheelchairs, an accessible environment, and proper welfare bene ts. I hope that policy-makers everywhere will read this report, understand how to tackle the challenge of spinal cord injury, and take the necessary actions.” TANNI GREYTHOMPSON, PARALYMPIC MEDALLIST AND MEMBER OF UK HOUSE OF LORDS “Disability is not incapability, it is part of the marvelous diversity we are surrounded by. We need to understand that persons with disability do not want charity, but opportunities. Charity involves the presence of an inferior and a superior who, ‘generously’, gives what he does not need, while solidarity is given between equals, in a horizontal way among human beings who are di erent, but equal in their rights.
    [Show full text]
  • Canadian Broadcast Standards Council
    CONSEIL CANADIEN DES NORMES DE LA RADIOTÉLÉVISION COMITÉ NATIONAL DE LA TÉLÉVISION GÉNÉRALE CTV concernant la couverture de l’accident mortel en luge aux Jeux Olympiques d’hiver de 2010 (Décision du CCNR 09/10-0895+) Rendue le 12 novembre 2010 R. Cohen (président), H. Pawley (vice-président, grand public), D. Braun (ad hoc), M. Harris (ad hoc), F. Niemi, T. Reeb LES FAITS Le 12 février 2010, juste avant le début des Olympiques d’hiver de 2010 à Vancouver, Nodar Kumaritashvili, un lugeur géorgien, a subi un accident tragique lors d’une séance d’entraînement au Centre des sports de glisse à Whistler. Il a été éjecté hors de sa luge et de la piste à la sortie d’un virage serré (le virage 16, appelé « Thunderbird »), et a heurté un poteau soutenant la toiture. L’accident a été capturé par les caméras de CTV (un des membres du Consortium olympique canadien et le principal radiodiffuseur de langue anglaise aux Jeux) et a été diffusé à divers moments ce jour-là, lorsque la nouvelle se faisait savoir pour la première fois et aussi plus tard une fois qu’il a été confirmé que cet accident avait entraîné la mort de M. Kumaritashvili. La séquence vidéo durait environ 40 secondes. On y voyait M. Kumaritashvili qui descendait la piste de luge à très grande vitesse (143 km/h dit-on). De nombreuses caméras étaient situées le long de la piste afin que les téléspectateurs puissent voir la descente de M. Kumaritashvili et celle des autres lugeurs à divers endroits le long de la piste et selon divers angles de prise de vues.
    [Show full text]
  • OGI-Post-Games Report 2013-10-23
    Olympic Games Impact (OGI) Study for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games Post-Games Report October 23, 2013 Prepared by: The OGI-UBC Research Team: Lead: Rob VanWynsberghe Analyst: Brenda Kwan For: The Canadian Olympic Committee (COC) OGI-UBC Post-Games Report Table of Contents Table of Contents Table of Contents ............................................................................................................................. i Acknowledgements ........................................................................................................................ iv 1. Introduction ............................................................................................................................... 5 1.1. Changes to the Olympic Games Impact (OGI) Study in 2011 ....................................... 5 1.2. Organization of the Vancouver OGI Post-Games Report .............................................. 5 1.2.1. Categorization of Individual Indicators .................................................................. 5 1.2.2. Sections of the Report ............................................................................................. 6 1.3. Caveats about the OGI Study .......................................................................................... 6 1.4. Host Region for the 2010 Winter Games: The Province of British Columbia, Metro Vancouver, and the Squamish-Lillooet Regional District ............................................ 6 1.4.1. Population ..............................................................................................................
    [Show full text]