This statue is located in Stanley Park in Vancouver. I think it's meant as an Aboriginal representation of the Games. I look forward to spending some time in Stanley Park, a 1,000 acre park nestled in the heart of Vancouver. It was opened in 1888 by Lord Stanley of Preston, the Governor-General of Canada. And yes, there is a certain hockey trophy named after him as well!


One of the main attractions of the park is the Vancouver Aquarium and includes beluga whales, dolphins, sea otters, harbor seals and sea lions.

It's getting closer!!! Less than 3 weeks until the Games begin. I stood at a basketball game tonight during the National Anthem and thought "How cool is it going to be to hear the Star Spangled Banner during the Olympics!!"

Nations - Competing Countries at the 2010 Winter Olympics - CTV Olympics

These are the nations that competed at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy...I would guess that the majority of them have qualified athletes for Vancouver in 2010!

Nations - Competing Countries at the 2010 Winter Olympics - CTV Olympics

The Medals

The design of the 2010 Olympic medals feature contemporary aboriginal artworks and are undulating rather than flat - both firsts in Games history.

The medals, produced by the Royal Canadian Mint, are based on two works of an orca whale and a raven by Canadian aboriginal artist Corrine Hunt.

Each medal will have a unique hand-cropped section of the abstract art and a silk scarf printed with the master artwork will be presented to the medal-winning Olympians.

I will get to see two medal ceremonies live at least during my stay in Vancouver as I have tickets to the Pairs Figure Skating final on February 15th and also the Men's Giant Slalom event on February 19th is a medal event. Another interesting thing I found out is that some, not all, of the metal used to create the Gold, Silver and Bronze medals, will be taken from recycled electronics such as tv's, computers and circuit boards.