Sports
Fifteen winter sports events have been announced as part of the 2010 Winter Olympics. The eight sports categorized as ice sports are: bobsled, luge, skeleton, ice hockey, figure skating, speed skating, short track speed skating and curling. The three sports categorized as alpine skiing and snowboarding events are: alpine, freestyle and snowboarding. The four sports categorized as Nordic events are: biathlon, cross country skiing, ski jumping and nordic combined.
The opening and closing ceremonies and the events categorized as ice sports (excluding bobsleigh, luge and skeleton) will be held in Vancouver and Richmond. The sports categorized as "Nordic events" will be held in the Callaghan Valley located just to the west of Whistler. All alpine skiing events will be held on Whistler Mountain (Creekside) and sliding events (bobsleigh, luge and skeleton) will be held on Blackcomb Mountain. Cypress Mountain (located in Cypress Provincial Park in West Vancouver) will host the 2010 freestyle skiing (aerials, moguls, and ski cross), and all 2010 snowboard events (half-pipe, parallel giant slalom, snowboard cross).
Vancouver 2010 will also be the first winter Olympics in which both
men's and women's hockey will be played on a narrower, NHL-sized ice rink,[citation needed] measuring 200 ft × 85 ft (61 m × 26 m), instead of the international size of 200 ft × 98.5 ft (61 m × 30 m). The games will be played at General Motors Place, home of the NHL's Vancouver Canucks and which will be temporarily renamed Canada Hockey Place for the duration of the Olympics. This change is expected to save $10 million (CAD) in construction costs and allow an additional 35,000 spectators to attend Olympic hockey games.
There were a number of events proposed to be included in the 2010 Winter Olympics. On November 28, 2006, the IOC Executive Board at their meeting in Kuwait voted to include skicross in the official program. The Vancouver Olympic Committee (VANOC) subsequently approved the event to be officially part of the Games program.
Events proposed for inclusion but ultimately rejected included:
* Biathlon mixed relay
* Mixed doubles curling
* Team alpine skiing
* Team bobsled and skeleton
* Team luge
* Women's ski jumping
The issue over women's ski jumping being excluded ended up in the Supreme Court of British Columbia in Vancouver during April 21–24, 2009 with a verdict on 10 July 2009 excluding women's ski jumping from the 2010 Games.[68] A request to appeal that verdict to the Supreme Court of Canada was subsequently denied on Dec 22, 2009 - a decision that marked the end of any hopes that the event would be held during Vancouver 2010.[69] To alleviate the exclusion, VANOC organizers invited women from all over Canada to participate at Whistler Olympic Park, including Continential Cup in January 2009.[68] There is now effort to include the games for the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia.