4gamesandcounting Posted March 1, 2010 Report Share Posted March 1, 2010 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! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4gamesandcounting Posted March 1, 2010 Report Share Posted March 1, 2010 Just on this article point - what city was he in during the Beijing Games? The city - much, much larger than teh previous few Games - was a huge party. 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LuigiVercotti Posted March 1, 2010 Report Share Posted March 1, 2010 "excellent and very friendly" -Jacques Rogge That's pretty decent praise from the Belgian rugger bugger...especially considering he won't ever go back to the Wily Old Falangist's phraseology of 'best games ever'. Of course JR would have been just a tad insane to have provided an ambivalent observation on Vancouver 2010 in front of all those mad patriotic Canucks. We all remember what Juan had to deal with after his Atlanta speech... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RiceXIX Posted March 1, 2010 Report Share Posted March 1, 2010 I really enjoyed the olympics in Vancouver. The best I have seen since Salt Lake. Salt Lake was the first games that I watched and so it "set the bar" for me. Vancouver felt like, from what I could tell by the terrific broadcasting from NBC , it had a great atmosphere. The athletes performed very well also. It was a great games for both Canada and USA. The ceremonies were okay, I felt the OC relied to heavily on projections and the CC should of focused less on Canada and more on the athlete. IMO, I rate Vanvcouver second best to Salt Lake. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Querque Posted March 1, 2010 Report Share Posted March 1, 2010 It's only subjective, but to me, Lillhammer is still on top, but Vancouver has slipped over SLC into second. I absolutely agree. I can't really remember the 1994 games, but I heard that they were the greatest games ever. Vancouver was nice, but of course there was the luge accident, there were overdesigned venues like the sliding centre, the women's downhill or the snowboard- and skicross slope, there was the bad weather and I didn't like that Whistler was so far away from Vancouver. But these games were better than the Nagano, SLC and Torino Games. That means, the best games I can remember! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NY20?? Posted March 1, 2010 Report Share Posted March 1, 2010 By far the most festive Games since Sydney. Vancouver edges out Salt Lake for me by a bit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lehari Posted March 2, 2010 Report Share Posted March 2, 2010 "excellent and very friendly" -Jacques Rogge "Truly magnificent Games" - Jacques Rogge, Torino, 26/02/2006. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LuigiVercotti Posted March 2, 2010 Report Share Posted March 2, 2010 "Truly magnificent Games" - Jacques Rogge, Torino, 26/02/2006. "Totally bodacious and most triumphant" Ted Theodore Logan, San Dimas, 1989 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dinhu4ever Posted March 2, 2010 Report Share Posted March 2, 2010 Being the first time I've ever watched Olympic Winter Games, I can't put the "Best Ever" tag on it. Still, I believe it was a great way to start. Not only for me, but many brazilians started paying attention to the games as they went on. I've seen people on Twitter talking about curling, snowboard and Figure Skating managed to get in the Brazilian Trending Topics! That was certainly a first! So, trully exceptional games IMHO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mr.x Posted March 2, 2010 Report Share Posted March 2, 2010 "Truly magnificent Games" - Jacques Rogge, Torino, 26/02/2006. So much for Rei's claims on page 4 of this topic that I "obsessively compared" Vancouver with Torino. Being the first time I've ever watched Olympic Winter Games, I can't put the "Best Ever" tag on it. Still, I believe it was a great way to start. Not only for me, but many brazilians started paying attention to the games as they went on. I've seen people on Twitter talking about curling, snowboard and Figure Skating managed to get in the Brazilian Trending Topics! That was certainly a first! So, trully exceptional games IMHO. loll...I'm not sure, but if I recall correctly Rogge called the Beijing Games "truly exceptional". Anyhow, I'm glad that you enjoyed the Vancouver Games and that it opened Brazil to the world of the "other" Olympics that happens every 4 years. I've been following the Olympics very closely, and this is the first time I've seen so many notions in the media of Vancouver 2010 possibly being the "Best Winter Games ever". Of course, there really is no such thing...but Vancouver has certainly left the bar high for the future of the Olympic Movement. And I do hope that future hosts will take that bar to new heights! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canuckfan Posted March 2, 2010 Report Share Posted March 2, 2010 I don't know if they're the best ever, but they're certainly getting glowing reviews by media outlets across the world today. Except maybe for the guy who compared Canada to Nazi Germany... http://www.kansascity.com/2010/02/28/1780198/it-was-a-canadian-party-and-canada.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SkiFreak Posted March 2, 2010 Report Share Posted March 2, 2010 These were the first Olympics I experienced first hand. Watching the games over the years on TV, to me, these winter games were... The busiest The biggest (largest city to host the games [region, if you count Richmond and Surrey]) The most partiest (is there even a word as partiest? Anyway, the most celebratory) The most patriotic So... I think they top the list for best winter games ever. And how about those 14 golds, eh? And after experiencing a Victory Ceremony at BC Place, this was a smart move by VANOC. Making some extra cash on the medal ceremonies, but also throwing in a concert after the presentations. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ard72 Posted March 2, 2010 Report Share Posted March 2, 2010 Not happy in Moscow Goodbye, Vancouver!28.02.2010 Doesn’t it feel great to slam the door behind you as you walk out, stick up the middle finger using the palm of the left hand on the upper right forearm for extra leverage and blow a giant raspberry? That is exactly how it feels as Russia leaves Vancouver after disappointing Games with a question, was the Canadian ice hockey team on drugs? The middle finger goes to the shockingly dangerous organization of the Games which cost the life of a Georgian luger right at the outset on day 1 (Nodar Kumaritashvili lost his life because the track was unfit, and indeed the corner where he crashed was elevated the following day) and the giant raspberry goes to the appalling, abominable and biased judging of events which cost Russia medal after medal. The middle finger and the giant raspberry go to the Canadian ice hockey team. Were they on drugs the day they beat Russia so overwhelmingly? These days, and since the USSR’s 8-1 thrashing of Canada in the early 80s, Canada-Russia ice hockey games are always very closely fought events and there has not been such a monumental difference between the two sides. Very strange, the more so since the same Team Canada (whatever the hell that is supposed to mean) put in an extremely lacklustre performance against lowly Slovakia and was lucky to reach Sunday’s final. And for anyone who is about to be shocked by the question, one supposes it is OK to make cheap and gratuitous references to Russians and doping, but when the ball rolls back home it hurts. Right? We will never know, will we? We will never know, because the officials at Vancouver predictably did not mete out to the Canadians the shockingly humiliating treatment given to the Russian skier Natalya Korosteleva, asked to produce a urine sample during the break between the quarter-and semi-finals of her event. Had she complied, she would not have had time to enter the semis. And such was the hounding of the Russian athletes that there are rumours many refused to eat for fear their food would be laced with steroids. The more shocking it was due to the insolence shown by Olympic officials already installed in Canada prior to the Games, insinuating that the Russian athletes are synonymous with doping. The fact of the matter is, however, that there has not been one single doping incident involving a Russian athlete in Vancouver. Nobody in Russia will miss Vancouver. The entire team was affected by the death of Nodar Kumaritashvili (contrary to popular belief in the western media, Russians do not hate Georgians and have no desire to constantly humiliate the country despite the murderous adventures of war criminal and Washington protégé Saakashvili), the team members were affected by the climate of hostility and intrusion shown by officials (take for example the banning of Stanislav Detkov in the Men's Snowboard Parallel Giant Slalom after his gate jammed and the insolent remarks made to him by officials when he complained) and the results were what we saw. Three Golds, Five Silvers and Seven Bronze medals. Not bad by the standards of many but paltry for Russia. Now we see the value of the Soviet sports schools, now we see the value of the Youth Movements which raised children who were proud to represent and win for their country. It was not the Soviet Union that collapsed in the early 90s, it was discipline, fibre and morals. For once and for all, let us blow that idiotic reference to “collapse of the USSR” into outer space and leave it there. The Soviet Union did not collapse. It simply disengaged, on a voluntary basis, as foreseen in its Constitution. No sweat, no problems, no big deal. Its original objectives had been achieved in full: security of the state, security on the streets, universal education, women’s rights, excellent and free public services, zero unemployment, guaranteed and free housing, transportation, utilities, leisure time activities, an excellent healthcare service and index-linked pensions. Pretty good in just a few generations, and this despite the trillions of dollars being spent by Canada and its friends trying to sabotage the model, assassinate Communist political leaders and so on as the Soviet Union freed countless countries from the yolk of Imperialism and implemented the same excellent public services in them. In Africa, in Latin America, in Asia. However, times change and Russia has maintained, in general, good relations with its neighbours. It is not Moscow’s fault that the Baltic States decided to side with NATO not out of any animosity towards Russia but more so because it is good business and greases a few palms, but don’t tell Washington. It is not Moscow’s fault that Georgia is run by a tie-chewing homicidal maniac who should be strung up by his balls. It will take Russia a few more years to reach the pinnacle of sporting excellence. This may come already at Sochi in 2014. Canadians will find themselves welcomed as friends. They will have their hands shaken in the streets. People will smile at them. The Organization at Sochi will not spend the weeks in the run-up to the Games making insolent remarks about Canadians and doping. Canadian athletes will not be asked to produce urine samples seconds before they are due to compete. They will not be hounded day and night. This will be the difference. Sochi, the Gateway to the Future, is about where North meets South, East meets West. The Games will not be dangerous for the athletes, the judges will not be biased. Sochi will show Vancouver how it’s done, because despite the results of these Games, Russians do it better! Timothy BANCROFT-HINCHEY PRAVDA.Ru Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canuckfan Posted March 2, 2010 Report Share Posted March 2, 2010 This is quite disturbing and I hope it's not a sign of what's to come in four years. This guy is completely brainwashed. The hockey team on drugs...putting steroids in the food...the Gateway to the Future Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SkiFreak Posted March 2, 2010 Report Share Posted March 2, 2010 The Russians are just sore losers. They can't be on top all the time. And with regards to the sports, and biased judging etc. haven't Russians partaked in these ways in the past? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OneTimeOnly Posted March 2, 2010 Report Share Posted March 2, 2010 The Russians are just sore losers. They can't be on top all the time. And with regards to the sports, and biased judging etc. haven't Russians partaked in these ways in the past? The 1980 Moscow games were a total fiasco with tons of cheating by judges and referees and boorish behavior by Muscovite spectators. Makes one wonder if Sochi will be a repeat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mr.x Posted March 2, 2010 Report Share Posted March 2, 2010 What more can I say? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DrqcUeTcmH4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LuigiVercotti Posted March 2, 2010 Report Share Posted March 2, 2010 I found this when I googled the rather strange author of the Pravda piece... I have just discovered the wonderful Timothy Bancroft-Hinchey of the pravda.ru editorial staff. I really must take readers to task for not having previously informed me of this luminary's work. Mr. Bancroft-Hinchey, who feels that "the main trait that journalists must have is modesty," describes himself as "one of the leading English song-writers of the 1980s." Presumably disenchanted with the glamour of "three Eurovision contests, three albums, two maxi-singles and five singles," he turned to journalism to satisfy his "need to talk and tell." So there you have it...I was on the right track when I linked in Eurovision to Sochi. I believe we have just uncovered a massive conspiracy between Vlad Putin, the Russian NOC, Sochi organisers, Eurovision and Pravda Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SkiFreak Posted March 2, 2010 Report Share Posted March 2, 2010 What more can I say? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DrqcUeTcmH4 Bwahahahahaha Lenin arising from the dead like Frankenstien. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FYI Posted March 2, 2010 Report Share Posted March 2, 2010 The Russians are just sore losers. They can't be on top all the time. And with regards to the sports, and biased judging etc. haven't Russians partaked in these ways in the past? Definitely so. Like that freak, Plushenko. Moscow 1980 was definitely not without it's "bias judging" blah, blah, etc, etc, either. Pot calling the kettle black, to say the least. And if these are the signs of what's to come in Sochi in 2014, the IOC has made a huge mistake. The writer of that article is a lunatic, but I'm sure it's a mentality shared by many other Russians. Just look at the refusal of Medvedev & Putin not wanting to come to Vancouver for the closing because of Russia's 'poor' perfermance. They actually didn't do too bad, but whatever. It must of been that "bias judging" again & those "insolent remarks" by officials that "cost" the poor, little victimized Russians "medal after medal". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gangwon Posted March 2, 2010 Report Share Posted March 2, 2010 It was the best Winter Olympics ever for me. Scratch that. It was the best Olympics PERIOD for me. It was the first I got to see in person, and it has truly converted me into an Olympic fan! I was always somewhat interested in it (especially with Pyeongchang bidding), but seeing the crowds really into it and the way we bonded made my Olympic experience just that much more memorable. It'll be a tough act to follow for any new host! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Moose Posted March 2, 2010 Report Share Posted March 2, 2010 Vancouver were OK games, but not among the very best, IMO, there were simply a bit too many mistakes in the events and venues, like sending out biathlon skiers at the wrong time, the bad ice if Richmond, and the bingo ski-jump hill, and a bit badly behaved Canadian supporterts, in particular those that watched curling. However, I've also experienced far worse games, without mentioning any names...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ticonderoga Posted March 19, 2010 Report Share Posted March 19, 2010 This is a hard games to rate, on one hand you have excellent venues, excellent crowd participation which filled every venue, excellent TV ratings, and a population that embraced the games not seen since Sydney. In that regard this was the best games since 1994 due to the excitement and emotion On the Other hand you had a death of a Luge athlete, problems with some mechanics , and a few bumps along the way with some of the events. I have been to 3 Winter games and 1 summer (96, 98, 02 and 2010) and I must say from a spectator point of view Vancouver was the best, no contest. Form a TV point of View Vancouver was the best again. Excellent games put on in Vancouver. However from a IOC point of view I can see why they only call the games "Excellent", anything more would have seemed like they forgot the death of Nodar, however they games were far beyond "Excellent". If I had to rank I would put them something like this. 1. Lillehammer---The benchmark 2. Vancouver 3. Salt Lake---> close third, very close 4. Calgary---> People seem to forget this one, it however had the makings of a wonderful games for so many reasons people seem to ignore. 5. Turin/Nagano----> both run well but void of any real meaning. Whoops forgot Albertville 1. Lillehammer 2. Vancouver 3. Salt lake 4. Calgary 5. Albertrville/ Turin 6. Nagano 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guardian Posted March 23, 2010 Report Share Posted March 23, 2010 Now that the party is officially over, it has been a blast for the Vancouver and Whistler areas in February and March. I would rank it one of the best overall. It will be interesting, if Canada will get another chance to host a Winter Olympics again in my lifetime. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4gamesandcounting Posted March 23, 2010 Report Share Posted March 23, 2010 (edited) bingo ski-jump hill What do you mean? Overall I would rank similarly to most others with Lillehammer top then Vancouver. Edited March 23, 2010 by London2012 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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