Vancouver hosts the 2010 Winter Olympic Games. After a four-year wait, hundreds of competitors from across the world battle it out for cherished gold medals in sports ranging from downhill skiing to ice hockey, bobsleigh and biathlon. Winter sports fans, athletes and the world's media descend on the city for three weeks of dramatic action. The world-class resort at Whistler on Blackcomb Mountain hosts the ever-popular high-adrenalin Alpine skiing and "sliding" events such as the luge and bobsleigh. Newer sports like freestyle skiing and snowboarding take over Cypress Mountain in Cypress Provincial Park.

You don't even need to leave the confines of the city to watch ice hockey and skating, with events at Canada Hockey Place, the UBC Thunderbird Arena and the Pacific Coliseum at Hastings Park. Away from the pistes and ice rinks, the concurrent Cultural Olympiad presents scores of concerts, new arts projects and other entertainment.

The 2010 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XXI Olympic Winter Games or the 21st Winter Olympics, will be held on February 12–28, 2010, in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, with some events held in the resort town of Whistler and in Richmond, a Vancouver suburb. Both the Olympic and Paralympic Games are being organized by the Vancouver Organizing Committee (VANOC). The 2010 Winter Olympics will be the third Olympics hosted by Canada, and the first by the province of British Columbia. Previously, Canada was home to the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, Quebec and the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary, Alberta.

Following Olympic tradition, then Vancouver mayor Sam Sullivan received the Olympic flag during the closing ceremony of the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy. The flag was raised on February 28, 2006, in a special ceremony, and will be on display at Vancouver City Hall until the Olympic opening ceremony. The event will be officially opened by Governor General Michaëlle Jean.

Some venues, including the Richmond Olympic Oval, are at sea level, a rarity for the Winter Games. The 2010 Games will also be the first-Winter or Summer-to have an Opening Ceremony held indoors. Vancouver, which will be the most populous city ever to hold the Winter Games, will also be the warmest: in February, when the Games will be held, Vancouver has an average temperature of 4.8 °C (40.6 °F).

The opening and closing ceremonies will be held at BC Place Stadium, which received over $150 million in major renovations. Competition venues in Greater Vancouver include the Pacific Coliseum, the Vancouver Olympic/Paralympic Centre, the UBC Winter Sports Centre, the Richmond Olympic Oval and Cypress Mountain. GM Place will play host to ice hockey events, but because corporate sponsorship is not allowed for an Olympic venue, it will be renamed Canada Hockey Place for the duration of the games. Renovations include the removal of advertising from the ice surface and conversion of some seating to accommodate the media. Competition venues in Whistler include the Whistler Blackcomb ski resort, the Whistler Olympic Park and the Whistler Sliding Centre.

The 2010 Winter Olympics will mark the first time since the National Hockey League (NHL) allowed its players to compete in Olympic Games (in 1998) that Olympics will be held in an NHL market. To avoid conflict between player commitments to their Olympic hockey squads and their NHL teams, the league will not hold games during the 2010 Olympic Games, and the season schedule has been compressed. In addition, Vancouver's NHL team, the Canucks, will be displaced from Canada Hockey Place, their home arena. As a result, the Canucks will be faced with the longest road trip in NHL history, with 14 games over 6 weeks, from January 27 to March 13, 2010.

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