4gamesandcounting

Which has been designated Official poster? Or maybe they aren't doing "official one posters" anymore - Beijing still hasn't been designated.

I think we can safely say the games will be in GC. I'll be coming over for it I am sure!

I would hope it stays - at least for a few years - its not like it's badly designed.

I loved the YMCA dance - got to see Miga and Quatchi in person doing the dance at Whistler! I miss them! Not quite Berlino the bear - but much cuter.

What do you mean? Overall I would rank similarly to most others with Lillehammer top then Vancouver.

I hope so - but Baron's right it's all about who is in charge of the city at the time. I still maintain a NYC games would be pretty special. It's a shame the 2012 bid was against Paris and London. How do we think they'd have done in the 2016 race?

What was the verdict on the Whistler Location for the closing? Did the audience have seats or was it all over very quickly so it didn't matter?

Looking forward to it - hoping for waterfall of some sort myself! Fireworks + Reflections could be really beautiful. Having said that I'm guessing it won't be broadcast over here.

I've tried - you are full!

Great Idea Roltel - I'll add a couple of reviews when I get round to it. Baron - can I still buy your book direct from you?!

It's a nice book. I think the commemorative book of the games will be the real keeper though.

It's a nice book. I think the commemorative book of the games will be the real keeper though.

Too soon to say until after the games are over!

The Winter paras are much smaller than the winter olympics when comparing summer paras to summer olympics. I know it makes sense logistically to host the paras second, but in some ways I really hope they move the paras first soon. They would make such a good warm up rather than an afterthought!

Successful games always finish with a "when can we go again?" feeling! I think next for Vancouver is the Paralympics and then a bit of a rest!

Guessing NBC must have cut it - yes both of them were presented and then gave flowers to the Volunteer representatives. Not sure how I could cope with Olympic Ceremonies with adverts! Thank goodness for the BBC!

Don't see any of those pics CAF.

All the Adult Canada jackets sold out weeks ago - I was disappointed not to pick one up in Vancouver. I did snag some red mittens on my first visit to the Bay on the Thursday before the OC though!

I'm sure the upcoming Rio games are giving Brazil a bit of Olympic fever - and it is in a good time zone for Brazil.

He will get it - it just isnt ALWAYS given at the CC.

Puppy I'd disagree with you. Compared the the comparitively smaller downtown areas of Athens, Sydney and Vancouver I really didn't think Beijing felt very party like. Sure there were enthusiastic Chinese fans, the city looked fantastic, great venues etc. But "one huge party"? I didn't feel it anyway.

It really was fantastic to be at - I had an amazing time, and I though the atmopshere was fantastic. However the Luge incident, and the bad weather (not Vancouver's fault as Rob has said) means that it doesn't quite beat Lillehammer for me. Having said that, I want to say that it's the best since then for sure!

Here's my take on this - in the summer games everybody floods the arena floor (and usually much quicker and from many entrances) and then a general mixing happens as people crowd around the flame/stage/focal point. In Vancouver everybody flooded in but then had to take a seat to watch the show - so I think that maybe they stayed together because they wanted to sit down next to somebody they knew rather than someone random! Just a thought.

So I'm back from the games - and I'm sorry I didn't post more often - iphone issues. I will try and post some pictures here soon. What's the best way to load pictures onto gamesbids - can I do it from Flikr? I had an amazing time and saw some great events. Highlights for me were the beautiful days in the middle of the games with the perfect weather, a float plane trip, capilano suspension bridge, skiing in whistler, Britain's gold in the skeleton (standing right next to Amy William's parents as they spoke on the phone to Amy via the BBC), three Short Track sessions (including the Canadian golds!), The Opening Ceremony, Ski Jumping and just enjoying a great city enjoying a great event. My first Olympics in Athens was great, but after Torino and Beijing, Vancouver's downtown atmosphere was fantastic! Some final thoughts from me: Best Winter Olympics Ever? Okay, so the weather wasn't perfect, and there were some definite hiccups early on, but having been to a few Olympics this one stands out as having the best atmosphere. Canada were - for the first time it seemed - proud to be winners, and they welcomed us all with open arms. The venues had an electric atmopsphere, and the intimate downtown area was buzzing every hour ofthe day and night. Lillehammer in 1994 held the best winter Olympics ever, but Vancouver's has been the most special since then I think. I really enjoyed it anyway. Go Canada Go! Closing Ceremony I watched it this morning. Fantastic. So beautiful. The lighting of the Olympic Flame at the beginning by Katrina le May Doan more than made up for her missed moment in the Opening Ceremony. It was funny and really beautiful too. I loved it. Vancouver's ceremonies have been a brilliant bridge between Beijing and London. It set's us up nicely for two years time. Sochi? Going to Vancouver I wasn't sure I'd be going to Sochi in 2014. But spending two weeks in the Olympic City is intoxicating. Bring on 2014! Pin Trading Generally acknowledged to be a poor games for pin trading. The winters are always smaller than the summers with the number of pins produced. Nonetheless I did some good trading - and the trading venues were much better than Beijing! Medal Predictions I thought I'd go back to my predictions before the games and see how I did! For some reason the Canadians count overall medals not golds, so they are third in their medal table not top. They can believe that if they want, but I will be using the official IOC (and everywhere else in the world!) ranking system of golds counting before anything else. This was the final Top 10 and my prediction for that position are in brackets afterwards. 1 CAN (CAN) 2 GER (GER) 3 USA (NOR) 4 NOR (USA) 5 KOR (AUT) 6 SUI (RUS) 7 CHN (KOR) 8 SWE (SUI) 9 AUT (FRA) 10 NED (SWE) So I correctly predicted the Top 2 - I note that some people said I was optimistic about Canadian Chances - well they owned the podium alright! I also did well to predict Norway and USA in the next two positions (although I predicted Norway to beat the USA). Further down I've done less well. Austria and France had terrible games really, while Korea have branched out to win golds in sports other than Short Track. Switzerland had a very good games particularly in Alpine and Ski Jumping. China did well - although they'll have wanted to do better - and the Netherlands still dominate the speed skating oval - although they could have got a few more golds if they hadn't made some basic mistakes. Russia had the worst time of all finishing out of the Top 10 - the first time EVER they haven't finished in the Top 4. I thought they would have a poor games and predicted them in 6th, but 11th is appaling for them, and there will be questioned asked before the eyes of the world turn to Sochi in 2014. Thank you Thank you Vancouver, a beautiful city and a great games. You did Canada and the Olympics proud. Only 879 days to go until the next one.

Isn't it great that this thread has not recieved hardly any traffic? Rogge has made anti-doping his thing. Has he succeded do we think?