10 Incredible Facts About the 2010 Winter Olympics
The Winter Olympics have come and gone, and it's March already. It was truly a spectacular Winter Olympics, which was dominated by North America (talk about a home-field advantage!). Before we move on to the World Cup, let's take a look back at some of the accomplishments during the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.
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Moment of Silence
Nodar Kumaritashvili, a luger from Georgia, died on the opening day of the Olympics during a training run. He lost control during a practice run and was thrown from his luge, striking an exposed medal beam. He is the 4th person ever to have died while prepping for the Winter Olympics. He was only 21 years old.
O' Canada!- Canada won gold at a self-hosted Olympics for the first time ever, having failed to do so in the 1976 Summer Olympics or the 1988 Winter Olympics.
- Canada became the first host country since Norway in 1952 to win the overall gold medal count.
- Canada broke the record for most gold medals in a single Winter Olympics, with 14. The previous record was 13, set by the Soviet Union in 1976 and tied by Norway in 2002.
- The United States won the overall medal count, bringing home a record 37 medals, the most in Winter Olympic history.
- The United States won a record 13 bronze medals and was one silver medal away from tying that record set by Germany in 2002.
- Anastazia Kuzmina won the first Winter Olympic gold for her home country, Slovakia. She beat heavily favored Magdalena Neuner in the 7.5km biathlon by 1.5 seconds to take home the gold.
- Alexei Grishin won the first Winter Olympic gold for his home country of Belarus.
- Billy Demong, of Lake Placid, NY, became the first gold medalist in U.S. history in the Nordic Combined discipline.
- The men's hockey gold medal game, between the U.S. and Canada, was the 2nd most watched Olympic hockey game in history. The Miracle on Ice, in 1980, is still #1.
What was your favorite moment of the 2010 Winter Olympics?
