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Sunday, February 14, 2010 VANCOUVER: "The whole world is watching", this was the battle cry of the 200 anti-Olympic protesters who marched through downtown Vancouver on the first day of the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympic Games on Saturday. What was supposed to be a peaceful protest turned into violence when masked protesters dressed in black damaged private property, spray-painting cars, breaking windows and throwing mailboxes onto the streets. Riot police in bright yellow vests, some carrying tear gas canisters and what looked like machine guns, formed a barrier near Stanley Park. City traffic came to a standstill as police vehicles descended on the area, and an army helicopter flew overhead at one stage. Media were told that both the IOC and the games organizers VANOC support non-violent protest. "Where we draw the line and where I suspect Canadians draw the line is when people get violent," Mark Adams of the IOC told this morning's daily briefing.

Sunday, February 14, 2010 VANCOUVER: Lee Jung-su won the men's 1,500m short-track speed skating gold at the Winter Olympics on Saturday, but powerhouse South Korea's hopes of a podium sweep were shattered on a last-bend collapse. American Apolo Anton Ohno finished second to become the most decorated Olympic short-track skater with six medals from three Games. Lee clocked 2min 17.611sec with Ohno 0.365sec behind while another American J.R. Celski finished third in 2:18.053 in the first event of the eight-race short-track competition. South Korea were just metres from a sweep, but Sung Si-Bak and Lee Ho-Suk collided and both men crashed into the boards around the final turn. "I don't feel good about it because I wanted them to get medals, too," said Lee Jung-Su, who has emerged as South Korea's number-one after finishing top in the 1,000m and 1,500m World Cup series this season ahead of his Olympic debut. "I usually don't start from the front...

Sunday, February 14, 2010 RICHMOND: Dutch world champion Sven Kramer who had earlier stormed to gold in the 5,000 metres brought some much-needed joyous scenes to the Vancouver Olympic Games on Saturday celebrating his first first Olympic gold with Dutch fans and banishing the painful memories of the Turin Games four years ago when he failed to triumph as many expected. Kramer, the three-times reigning world all-round champion and world record holder, had earlier added the only major honour missing from his resume by upgrading his 2006 Turin silver after powering to an amazing 2.35-second winning margin for his first Olympic title. The 23-year-old had been cheered on by orange-clad fans from the Netherlands who ringed the track, clocked six minutes 14.60 seconds to surpass the mark of 6:14.66 set by his compatriot Jochem Uytdehaage at the 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake City. After the win Kramer joined his fans at the Holland House close to the Richmond Olympic Oval to continue the ...

Sunday, February 14, 2010 VANCOUVER: American Hannah Kearney avenged a poor race in the 2006 Olympics by winning gold in the women's freestyle moguls on Saturday, snatching the title from the hometown favorite Canadian Jennifer Heil. Displaying nerves of steel as the fiercely partisan hometown crowd went wild at the thought of Heil winning Canada's first Olympic gold on home soil, Kearney stuck to her own gameplan and improved upon her qualifying-round performance. Racing just after Heil and last in the women's finals, the American zoomed down the bump-filled course and landed her two aerial tricks -- a back flip and a 360-degree twist -- cleanly before finishing in the fastest time of the day. Upon crossing the line, Kearney punched the air, screamed and jumped around in a hug with compatriot Shannon Bahrke, who took the bronze. Kearney, with a winning score of 26.63, had vowed not to repeat the mistakes made in Turin, where she was heavily favored but did not mak...

For most of the world, the Winter Olympics is a spectacle of strange sports (curling) and even stranger names (luge). For the host Canadians, it's a rare and glorious shot at world domination through sacred winter sports like hockey. So when economist and Olympic prognosticator Daniel Johnson predicted Canada is poised to be top dog, you might expect the country to be thumping its collective shoulder pads in celebration. But hold off on the celebratory poutine. Medal predictions are tricky, perhaps more of an art than a science, and it's not clear that economists or anyone else using objective data are best suited for the endeavor. Does home field advantage matter? Do you take individual sports and athletes into account, or look at broad demographic trends? The most important number, by far, is a country's past medal count. That is the benchmark of all Olympic medal predictions, and it's often hard to beat. (Here's a handy interactive graphic for medal winners...

WHISTLER, B.C. - Nodar Kumaritashvili celebrated his 21st birthday only three months ago. They say he was here to fulfil a dream. Instead, he died. The young luger from Georgia was ranked 41st in the World Cup standings at the beginning of 2010. And, despite the concerns of some Olympic competitors that the track here was too fast to be safe, Kumaritashvili did OK in early runs. He'd finished 17th on the first run Wednesday, but crashed on the second run. Nothing serious. He walked away. He went back to the track Thursday and finished 12th and 13th in the runs. But something went wrong on Friday. On his first run, he finished 32nd. And, by now, everyone knows what happened on his second try. His crash was gruesome. Sliding feet first, he flew from his sled and landed like a rag doll. It's not known how fast he was going when he crashed, but the track's top recorded speed is 153.93 km/h. His parents were told of his death by phone. They were called by both Ge...

Cypress Mountain, the venue for the snowboarding and freestyle skiing events, has had to truck and fly in enough snow to fill 20 Big Bens. But organizers say it's now ready to go. West Vancouver, Canada :: These days, a perpetual rainy mist hangs over Cypress Mountain. For those trying to ensure that the venue will be ready to hold Olympic events starting tomorrow, it could just as easily be the smoke of battle. During the past month, the Vancouver Organizing Committee and the weather have been at war, and nowhere more so than on this suburban mountain that is set to host the snowboard and freestyle skiing events. After a historically warm January, the mountainside is mottled with the earthen spots of a receding winter, forcing organizers to import snow from distant peaks and passes by truck and helicopter simply to have enough to hold a competition. On the eve of the Olympics, the big story in Vancouver is still the weather, with fog potentially wreaking havoc on the Olymp...

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has made its first appearance in Winter Olympics 2010 as Abbas, the first skier of the country, is bearing the country’s flag in the competition. The opening ceremony of Winter Olympics 2010 was held at Vancouver, Canada where Muhammad Abbas, an employee of Pakistan Air Force and the lone skier from Pakistan is proudly representing the nation in Alpine Skiing discipline of the Winter Olympics 2010, said a message received here. Under the aegis of PAF and Ski Federation of Pakistan (SFP), the athlete had previously participated in a number of international events and had performed well. Pakistan Air Force is the pioneer of Skiing in the countryand is making all-out efforts to promote the sport in the country.

Last February energy-drink maker Red Bull built U.S. snowboarder Shaun White his own half-million-dollar half-pipe in the back country of Silverton, Colo.-- so remote he needs a helicopter to shuttle him there. It was here where White invented the most dangerous trick in his repertoire: the double McTwist 1260, an inverted aerial in which he launches himself up off the side of a snow-packed embankment and flips head over heels twice while spinning three and a half times and holding his board. The move helped him win gold in January at the Winter X Games in Aspen, Colo., and padded his status as an action sport superstar. He also padded his wallet with US$40,000 in prize money. But compared to what he earns from sponsors, that was pocket change. Last year 23-year-old White pocketed US$7.5-million from the likes of snowboard-maker Burton, Red Bull, Target, goggle-maker Oakley, game-maker Ubisoft and AT&T, making him one of the highest-earning athletes appearing at the 2010 Winter O...

The 2010 Winter Olympics opened Friday night at BC Place in Vancouver, British Columbia, with a rousing Opening Ceremony that didn't quite match the pageantry of Beijing, but did a fine job of capturing the essence of Canada. Fourth-Place Medal lists the 10 most memorable moments of the festivities: 1. The gaffe heard 'round the world -- Vancouver organizers had planned for four Olympic cauldrons to be lit by Canada's most famous athletes, but a mechanical error prevented one of the massive torches from rising from the floor of BC Place. Former hockey star Wayne Gretzky, two-time NBA MVP Steve Nash and Alpine skiing legend Nancy Green were able to light their cauldrons, but speedskater Catriona Lemay Doan was left with her flame when the fourth torch failed to emerge from underneath the stadium. It was an embarrassing end to an otherwise flawless Opening Ceremony. Instead of the indelible memory of four cauldron-lighters, this ceremony will be most remembered for the cauld...

Saturday, February 06, 2010 ISLAMABAD: Pakistani skier Mohammad Abbas will take part in the winter Olympics to be held from February 12 in Canada. A ceremony was arranged at the Canadian High Commission in Islamabad in honour of Mohammad Abbas. Canadian high commissioner Randolph Mank, office-bearers of Ski Federation, skier Abbas, politicians and diplomats attended the ceremony in large number. The Canadian high commissioner termed the Winter Olympics an honour for Canada.

Thursday, October 22, 2009 ATHENS: The flame was lit here Thursday for the 2010 Winter Olympics and carried off by the first relay runner on a journey of more than 47,000 kilometres (nearly 30,000 miles) to Vancouver.The Games are scheduled to take place in Canada from February 12-28.At the ancient birthplace of the Olympics here, a high priestess used a concave mirror to capture the sun's rays and help spark the flame before the temple of Hera.Actress Maria Nafpliotou, playing the role of high priestess and supported by 20 vestals, implored the sun god Apollo to light the sacred flame.Among the official attendance were International Olympic Committee chairman Jacques Rogge and Vancouver organising committee head John Furlong.At Canada's request, the elaborate ceremony was the same as for the summer Olympics and the dancing vestals handed over the torch to the first relay-runner: giant slalom skiier Vassilis Dimitriadis.The Olympic flame was to be carried 2,180 kilometres acro...