• The torch relay at the 2010 Winter Olympics is set to be the longest relay in Olympic history.

The security budget for the events—over fi ve times higher than the original estimate.

• Ghana, Bahamas, Gabon and The Cayman Islands will make their Winter Olympic debuts in 2010.

• These are the third Olympics that Canada has hosted.

• The Vancouver Winter Olympics will be the 21st Winter Olympic Games.

• The mascots for the Winter Olympics are Miga (a mythical sea bear), Quatchi (a sasquatch) and Sumi (an animal guardian spirit).

Participating countries

South Africa was the fi rst African

nation to participate in the Winter Olympic Games in 1960 in Squaw Valley, U.S. This didn’t happen again until 1994 in Seoul, South Korea.

countries will be participating in the 2010 Winter Olympics.

97

Olympic history

The fi rst Winter Olympics were fi rst held in Chamonix, France from Jan. 24 - Feb. 4, 1924. The Games were a multi-sport event. Competitions were held at the foot of

Mont Blanc in Chamonix and Haute-Savoie, France. Canada fi nished in eighth place by wining one

gold medal thanks to the Canadian ice-hockey team.

Interesting facts about the 2010 Winter Olympics

Olympic history

Speed skater Charles Jewtraw

of United States won the very fi rst Winter Olympics gold medal in the opening event in Chamonix, France.

1924

The total marathon running distance is 26 miles and 385 yards (42.2 km). Why such a strange fi gure?

Because Queen Alexandra of Great Britain decreed 1908 that the marathon should end below the royal box at London’s White City Stadium, which added the extra 385 yards!

26

The Olympic symbol consists

of fi ve circles or rings. These represent the fi ve continents.

Sochi, Russia will be the next host nation of the 2014 Winter

Olympics. This will be the fi rst time the Games will be held in Russia.

2014

Boeing 747 jumbo jets

could have fi t side-by-side in the Olympic Stadium in Australia.

4

U.S. TV covered the Olympics for the fi rst time when CBS aired the Summer Games in Rome.1960

1960

$900 M

Record for doping control tests administered during the Turin 2006 Winter Games.

5

The year women’s ice hockey featured for the fi rst time in the Winter Olympic Games

in Nagano. This was the fi rst time the Winter Olympics were held outside Europe and North America.

1998

1,219

The record for the most gold medals awarded in one Olympic Games went to American swimmer Mark

Spitz in 1972. He won 7 golds. U.S. swimmer Michael Phelps will try to top that at the Athens Olympics.

Vancouver will be the most populous city to have hosted the Winter Games.

Cancelled Games: Canada has participated in every Winter Games so far. The only times Canada did not participate were in 1940 and 1944, when the Games were cancelled after the outbreak of the Second World War.

No country in the Southern Hemisphere has ever hosted the Winter Olympic Games.

Compiled by Khalid Magram QMI Agency; QMI graphics

Now that’s a fact

The medals to be presented to the athletes in 2010 Winter Olympics are made from recycled materials from used electronics.

Canada’s Ross Rebagliati made history in Nagano, 1998, by winning the fi rst gold medal for snowboarding.The current estimated total cost

of the 2010 Vancouver Olympics.$1.76 B 7