Vancouver, Canada was the host of the 21st Winter Olympics. This major international sports meet was held from February 12 to 28, 2010. It includes 86 different events with more than 2500 athletes representing 82 countries participating in the games. Although most of the events were held in Vancouver, some of the games were played in Whistler, British Columbia and in Richmond, Vancouver.
Overall, the United States came up with the most number of medals. With 9 gold medals, 15 silver, and 13 bronze, the United States athletes also made history by garnering the most number of medals ever in Winter Olympics history.
Germany came in second in the total medal count with 30, while host country Canada was third with a total of 26 medals won. Norway and Austria round out the top 5 medal winning countries with 23 and 16 total medals respectively.
Although Canada missed out on the total medal race, it did win the Gold medal race. The Canadian gold medal total of 14 not only secured the first place for gold, it also broke the 34-year old record for most gold medals won at a single winter Olympics. The previous record was 13, set by the Soviet Union way back in 1976 and matched by Norway in the 2002 winter Olympic Games. This first place gold medal finish by Canada also marks the first time that the host country won the gold medal race since Norway accomplished the feat when it hosted the games in 1952.
Among the 14 gold medals though, none shone brighter than the one won by Canada over the United States in Ice Hockey. With a 3-2 overtime win, not only did the Canadian national team win the gold, it did so in dramatic fashion. It is a common sentiment in the winter Olympic Games that the ice hockey gold was the most sought after, especially for this year’s host country. The craving for the gold in ice hockey was so strong that there was a general feeling of Olympic success for Canada even though it had lost in the total medal count.
For the United States, domination in the 2010 Winter Olympic Games came in the Nordic combined event, winning both the gold and the silver medals. This was the first time the United States won the gold in this event.
The Americans also won two medals in the 1500 meters short track speed skating competition due to a bizarre turn of events. The South Koreans were well on their way to sweeping the event up to just a few meters from the end. Unfortunately, in these last meters, two of the South Koreans unexpectedly tripped on each other, essentially wiping each other out, allowing the Americans to secure the silver and bronze medals.
Outside of the games though, the 21st winter Olympics did not lack in interesting moments.
During the opening ceremonies, there was a problem with one of the 4 torches that was supposed to be lit. Due to a mechanical malfunction, the fourth torch was not lifted up onto the stage. However, this blooper was comically corrected during the closing ceremonies. Using a mime, the “broken” fourth torch was finally “fixed” and was finally lit.
