The 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics = 17 days + 86 events + 82 countries + 258 medals + 2622 athletes + a dream to be on top of the podium!

It took 106 days, 4530 kms, and 12,000 torch bearers for the Olympic flame to reach Vancouver. Canadians were looking to see their athletes shine, just as bright as it.

Marion LaRue of Cannon Design Architectural Incorporation designed the $178 million fluid, organic-looking Richmond Olympic Oval, where the speed-skating events took place. It was build by the City of Richmond, with the federal and provincial governments contributing $60 million.

Vancouver's Don Dearden and Dawn Sullivan help answer transit questions outside the Sky Train station near Granville Street. On one of the Olympic days, more than 1.5 million person used the traffic system, which included 700,000 riders for a day on Expo, Millennium and Canada lines, more than 800,000 on buses, and 40,000 on the Seabus.

Keith Pelley, president of the broadcast media consortium and Ozzy Osborne fan, oversaw 4,800 hours of programming across multiple platforms - making it an achievement of Olympic proportions on its own.

A golden medal was offered for the music that accompanied the entrance of the athletes into B.C. Place. Most of the music from that evening, and the stuff heard at the ends of races and during the evening medal ceremonies, were written by Dave Pierce, a Canadian who had made it his specialty of orchestrating the sounds of victory for big sporting events.

Steve Nash, the star of the 2000 Canadian Olympic Team, was visibly heartbroken when his team was knocked out of the final round in basketball by France. He was once again part of the "ultimate team", entering Vancouver with the Olympic torch on February 11, saying, "One of my big feelings about experiencing it [torch run], was in the memory of Terry Fox. He had a huge impact on so many of our lives, so to be out there in the open road, like Terry, with our countrymen, allowed me to feel a little closer to him. His Marathon of Hope seems like an eternal flame as well." Nash said that when he was 6-years-old, living in Victoria, he used to get up every morning to see where Terry Fox was on his cross-Canada run. "When someone runs across the country with one leg, it poses a lot of questions for a 6-year-old. It was a very educational experience to me," added Nash on the motivation for him to be part of the cross-Canada torch run.

The Four Host First Nations played a key role in the Olympic Games, they endorsed the use of native art on the medals and of native dancing in the opening ceremonies, playing a major role in the night's program.

Canadian flag-bearer Clara Hughes, enters BC Place for the opening ceremonies of the Olympic Games on February 12, 2010.

Ghana's Kwame Nkrumah-Acheampong, nicknamed "The Snow Leopard", carries the flag during the opening ceremony for the Vancouver 2010 Olympics. Kwame became the first person from Ghana to ever take part in the Winter Olympics.

Canadian flag-bearer, Joannie Rochette with Becky Keller, the gold medalist hockey player, during the closing ceremony on February 28. Ms. Rochette was slected for her grace and courage under pressure, after her mother died suddenly upon arriving in Vancouver before the opening ceremonies. Despite the difficult circumstances, she competed in her skating routine, and won the bronze medal.

Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) lowered the Olympic flag at the closing ceremony of the Vancouver 2010 Winter Games on February 2010 to pass it onto representatives from Sochi, Russia - the next hosts of the Olympics in 2014.

Nodar Kumaritashvil the 21-years-old luger from Georgia, died during a high-speed crash in a training run at Whistler on February 12, casting a cloud over the spectacle over the event and earning him a moment of silence during the opening ceremonies. the following day, and marking all athletes from around the world with black arm bands in remembrance.

Winners of the women's snowboard cross, with Maelle Ricker the gold medalist in the centre, to the left silver medalist Deborah Anthonioz of France, and to the right Olivia Nobs of Switzerland with the bronze.

Gold medalist, Christine Nesbitt of Canada with Dutch silver and bronze medalists, Annette Gerritsen and Laurine van Riessen, in the women's 1,000-metres speed skating competition.

Skeleton racer, John Montgomery of Canada, won the gold medal in what has been called the world's fastest track to be built.

Israeli siblings, Alexandra and Roman Zaretsky performed the figure-skating Ice Dance compulsory routine Tango Romantica. Four of the 23 ice dancing pairs competing at the Vancouver 2010 games were brothers and sisters. Many asked the question, who can you tango with your sibling?

Georgia's Allison Reed, born in the US, and Otar Japarize. compete in the ice dance at the Olympics. Reed holds dual US-Georgian cistenship, while her brother and sister compete in the same event for Japan.

After winning the 500-metre gold, Charles Hamelin kisses his girlfriend Marianne St-Gelais, who heself was an Olympic medal winner at Vancouver 2010.

Canadian women's hockey team do it for the 8th time, and win the gold medal in ice hockey at the Olympics in front of a capacity crowd. One day later and on the final day of the Olympics, the Canadian men's hockey team achieved the same goal, with almost all of Canada watching.

WINTER PARALYMPICS 2010

	Country	Gold	Silver	Bronze
1	CANADACANADA	14	7	5
2	GERMANYGERMANY	10	13	7
3	UNITED STATESUNITED STATES	9	15	13
4	NORWAYNORWAY	9	8	6
5	KOREAKOREA	6	6	2
6	SWITZERLANDSWITZERLAND	6	0	3
7	CHINACHINA	5	2	4
7	SWEDENSWEDEN	5	2	4
9	AUSTRIAAUSTRIA	4	6	6
10	NETHERLANDSNETHERLANDS	4	1	3

The Canadian 53-members team were dreaming to make a big jump from their 6th place finish at the Turin Paralympic Games. In the end, they managed to be the country at the top of the podium the most times, having won 14 gold medals.

The Paralympics originated after the Second World War, when British doctor, Ludwig Guttmann, an advocate for disabled war veterans, organized wheel-chaired games to coincide with the 1948 London Olympics. About 650 athletes competed in this year's Vancouver Paralympics, compared to more than 5,000 in the Olympics, and there are only five sports: alpine skiing, Nordic skiing, sledge hockey, wheel-chair hockey, and biathlon - in contrast to 15 winter games sports. The Games featured 44 countries with athletes, an increase from 39 who sent athletes to Turin in 2006.

Vivian Forest of north Edmonton, was the winner of the gold medal for the women's alpine downhill skiing for the visually impaired, accompanied by Lindsay Debou. It was the third medal at the Paralympics, but her first gold.

Elder Irvin Sarazin from Algonquin Nation near Golden Lake, Ontario, walks with the Paralympics flame with elder Peter Decontie from the Kitiganzibi Anishabe people near Maniwaki in Ottawa. The Paralympics torch relay began with a ceremony that included an aboriginal blessing at Victoria Island. The flame was then placed in a lamp paraded before it was taken to Parliament Hill.

Haitao Du of China skis in the men’s 20 km free standing cross country ski race during the 2010 Winter Paralympic Games in Whistler, Canada (Photo: Canadian Press/Jonathan Hayward).

Paralympians Aimee Mullins, left, of the U.S., and Chantal Petitclerc, of Canada, take part in the opening ceremonies of the 2010 Winter Paralympic Games in Vancouver, B.C. (Photo: Canadian Press/Darryl Dyck)

Yoshihiro Nitta of Japan celebrates as he crosses the line to win gold in the
Men's 1km Standing Cross-Country Sprint Final during Day 10 of the
2010 Vancouver Winter Paralympics at Whistler Paralympic Park on
March 21, 2010 in Whistler, Canada. (March 20, 2010 - Photo by
Jamie McDonald/Getty Images North America)

Andy Soule of the U.S. puts out his hands to steady himself during the men's 15km cross-country at the 2010 Paralympic Winter Games in Whistler, British Columbia, March 14, 2010 (Photograph by: Andy Clark, Reuters).