News
Sports
VANCOUVER, British Columbia — An Olympics that began with the death of a luger ended Sunday with an exuberant celebration of Canada — reflecting a determined comeback by the host country's organizers and athletes.
A festive crowd of 60,000 was jamming into BC Place Stadium for the closing ceremony, many of them Canadians abuzz over the overtime victory by their men's hockey team earlier in the day to give the host nation a Winter Olympics record of 14 gold medals.
The gaiety contrasted sharply with the moment of silence at the opening ceremony Feb. 12 for Nodar Kumaritashvili, the 21-year-old luger killed in a horrific training-run crash on the sliding track in Whistler just hours before that ceremony.
“The games started in very difficult conditions. ... No one will forget that,” International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge said before the closing. “However, you have to be fair to the organizers, you have to be fair to the Canadians, and you have to be fair to athletes and judge the games on their own merit — without forgetting what happened before.”
Canadian officials ensured there would be some poignancy at the closing ceremony as well, selecting figure skater Joannie Rochette as their flagbearer. Her mother died of a heart attack hours after arriving in Vancouver last weekend, but Rochette chose to carry on and won a bronze medal, inspiring her teammates and fans around the world.
“Yes, it's been a tough week for me,” she said before the ceremony. “But I walk tonight into that stadium with a big smile on my face. ... I accomplished my goals, and I want to celebrate with my teammates.”
The U.S. flagbearer was Bill Demong, a veteran of four Olympics who won a gold and silver medal in Nordic combined.
There were plenty of reasons for Canada and the United States to celebrate. The U.S. won 37 medals overall — the most ever for any nation in a Winter Olympics.
Canada, after a slow start, set a Winter Games record with 14 golds and sparked public enthusiasm in Vancouver that veterans of multiple Olympics described as unsurpassed.
The comeback by the Canadian athletes was mirrored by the resilience of the Vancouver Organizing Committee. It struggled with a series of glitches and weather problems early in the games, adjusted as best it could, and reached the finish line winning widespread praise for an exceptional — if sometimes ill-fated — Olympics.
One of the glitches occurred at the opening ceremony, when the cauldron rising from beneath the floor at BC Place malfunctioned. The production team hoped it would behave properly when the flame was extinguished at one of the climactic moments of the closing ceremony.
Another important segment of the show: the traditional handover ceremony, in which the Olympic flag is lowered and presented to the hosts of the next Winter Games in 2014.
Anatoly Pakhomov, the mayor of Sochi, Russia, was to get the flag from Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson, followed by an eight-minute presentation about Sochi featuring opera, ballet, ice skating and giant glowing spheres called “zorbs.”
Other key moments in the closing:
—A tongue-in-cheek revue of Canadian icons and symbols, featuring singing-and-dancing Mounties, tabletop hockey players, dancing canoes and flying moose and beavers.
—The awarding of the gold medal for the men's 50-kilometer cross-country ski race, to Petter Northug of Norway.
—The swearing-in of two new members of the International Olympic Committee chosen by their fellow athletes — U.S. hockey player Angela Ruggiero and British skeleton racer Adam Pengilly.
A festive crowd of 60,000 was jamming into BC Place Stadium for the closing ceremony, many of them Canadians abuzz over the overtime victory by their men's hockey team earlier in the day to give the host nation a Winter Olympics record of 14 gold medals.
The gaiety contrasted sharply with the moment of silence at the opening ceremony Feb. 12 for Nodar Kumaritashvili, the 21-year-old luger killed in a horrific training-run crash on the sliding track in Whistler just hours before that ceremony.
“The games started in very difficult conditions. ... No one will forget that,” International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge said before the closing. “However, you have to be fair to the organizers, you have to be fair to the Canadians, and you have to be fair to athletes and judge the games on their own merit — without forgetting what happened before.”
Canadian officials ensured there would be some poignancy at the closing ceremony as well, selecting figure skater Joannie Rochette as their flagbearer. Her mother died of a heart attack hours after arriving in Vancouver last weekend, but Rochette chose to carry on and won a bronze medal, inspiring her teammates and fans around the world.
“Yes, it's been a tough week for me,” she said before the ceremony. “But I walk tonight into that stadium with a big smile on my face. ... I accomplished my goals, and I want to celebrate with my teammates.”
The U.S. flagbearer was Bill Demong, a veteran of four Olympics who won a gold and silver medal in Nordic combined.
There were plenty of reasons for Canada and the United States to celebrate. The U.S. won 37 medals overall — the most ever for any nation in a Winter Olympics.
Canada, after a slow start, set a Winter Games record with 14 golds and sparked public enthusiasm in Vancouver that veterans of multiple Olympics described as unsurpassed.
The comeback by the Canadian athletes was mirrored by the resilience of the Vancouver Organizing Committee. It struggled with a series of glitches and weather problems early in the games, adjusted as best it could, and reached the finish line winning widespread praise for an exceptional — if sometimes ill-fated — Olympics.
One of the glitches occurred at the opening ceremony, when the cauldron rising from beneath the floor at BC Place malfunctioned. The production team hoped it would behave properly when the flame was extinguished at one of the climactic moments of the closing ceremony.
Another important segment of the show: the traditional handover ceremony, in which the Olympic flag is lowered and presented to the hosts of the next Winter Games in 2014.
Anatoly Pakhomov, the mayor of Sochi, Russia, was to get the flag from Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson, followed by an eight-minute presentation about Sochi featuring opera, ballet, ice skating and giant glowing spheres called “zorbs.”
Other key moments in the closing:
—A tongue-in-cheek revue of Canadian icons and symbols, featuring singing-and-dancing Mounties, tabletop hockey players, dancing canoes and flying moose and beavers.
—The awarding of the gold medal for the men's 50-kilometer cross-country ski race, to Petter Northug of Norway.
—The swearing-in of two new members of the International Olympic Committee chosen by their fellow athletes — U.S. hockey player Angela Ruggiero and British skeleton racer Adam Pengilly.
