Concerns and controversies at the 2010 Winter Olympics
Hours before the opening ceremony, Nodar Kumaritashvili of Georgia was killed during a training run for the luge after he was thrown from his sled and struck a steel pillar at high speed, near the end of the course.
[2] Furthermore, the Whistler Sliding Centre, which had recorded some of the fastest speeds in luge history, was the site of several non-fatal accidents during training runs leading up to the start of the games.
Eleven months before the death of Kumaritashvili, VANOC chief executive officer John Furlong started to be concerned that an athlete could get "badly injured or even worse" on the luge track.
[11] The rules of the International Bobsleigh and Tobogganing Federation also state that "to prevent the deterioration of the ice during warm, sunny periods, the finish straight should be shaded or covered.
The President of Georgia, Mikheil Saakashvili, thanked the hosts for the way that they handled Kumaritashvili's death, which included a moment of silence and a tribute at the opening ceremony.
Ten seconds into the band's first song, the crowd of hundreds surged forward, which caused a section of the barricade to collapse, sending dozens to the ground.
While Vancouver Police and an on-site medical team controlled the situation, the crowd was informed that the show was cancelled, and they dispersed quickly and co-operatively.
The security and on-site emergency medical response teams provided immediate assistance and care, the band kept people calm, and the crowd dispersed safely.
"[15] The program of opening ceremony was criticized for a perceived lack of appropriate representation of French-speaking Canadians, in spite of Canada's status as a bilingual country.
The Secretary General of La Francophonie, Abdou Diouf raised objections about the lack of bilingualism during the event, as French is alongside English as an International Olympic Committee official language.
John Furlong, VANOC CEO, IOC President Jacques Rogge, and Governor General Michaëlle Jean all addressed the crowd in English and French.
The commissioner said that "it was apparent that, in several areas, the official language requirements in the multi-party agreement signed by the organizing committee and Canadian Heritage were rather vague and unclear".
In early 2011, the Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages published guide based on the lessons learned at the Vancouver Games to help federal institutions and organizing committees of future large-scale sporting events to better understand, plan, implement, and monitor their activities toward the full respect and inclusion of English and French.
[30] Following the release of Furlong's book on the 2010 Games, La Presse editor André Pratte wrote a severe opinion piece on the lack of French in the opening ceremony, noting that "just trying is not good enough.
[38] In light of concerns, local British Columbia health officials vaccinated participants and spectators free of charge for the duration of the Games.
[39][40] The IOC voted in 2006 not to include women's ski jumping in the 2010 Games on the grounds that the sport was not yet developed enough and did not meet basic criteria for inclusion.
[46][47] Leading up to the Games, the International Olympic Committee had ordered the removal of a two-story high Australian Boxing Kangaroo flag which had been draped over a balcony in the athletes' village.
However, VANOC vice-president of communications Renée Smith-Valade said the government was not bringing politics into the 2010 games and did not have veto power over any part of the Olympic ceremonies.
[51] VANOC used lines from the Canadian national anthem to serve as the official slogans for the games ("with glowing hearts" in English and "des plus brilliants exploits" in French) and trademarked their use.
However, VANOC stated it would only challenge usage of the lines in the case of ambush marketing, where an attempt is made to "create a specific, unauthorized commercial association with the 2010 Winter Games".
[52][53] VANOC also began protecting its brand as contractually obligated by the IOC and its marketing partners, filing lawsuits against residents attempting to register domain names related to the games, and preventing Vancouver author Kari-Lynn Winters from portraying the Olympics in a work of fiction.
[53] In June 2009, the Olympics Resistance Network accused the Vancouver 2010 Integrated Security Unit's (VISU) Joint Intelligence Group of "abusive and unlawful conduct" after allegedly harassing VANOC opposition activists.
[58] In October 2009, the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia through the Miscellaneous Statutes Amendment Act, 2009, gave host municipalities (Richmond, Vancouver and Whistler) the power to enter residences and other private property to seize signs that are deemed to be "anti-Olympic", between February 1 and March 31, 2010.
[62] VANOC sources said this is unlikely to happen since the creditors would have no reason to diminish the value of the resort that would be enhanced by hosting a prestige event, and also because of the short time-frame of the impending Games relative to the length of the legal proceedings of any auction of Fortress' assets.
[69] In May 2010, VANOC announced that 200 people had to be reimbursed due to alleged fraudulent ticket purchases by a group of Latvians in the province who used compromised credit card information.
Norbert Baier, technical delegate for the International Biathlon Union, called it the worst day of his career and took full responsibility, stating that the mistakes were their fault.
[73] The opening ceremony was stalled while organizers recovered from mechanical problems that prevented the pillars forming the cauldron for the torch lighting from completely rising out of the stadium floor as planned.
Unbeknownst to the players, they had been photographed; their celebration was then criticized in the US media,[83][84] the reason being that smoking and drinking in public was unbecoming of Olympic athletes, especially while in uniform and in their playing venue.
[86] Canadian hockey captain Hayley Wickenheiser said a double standard was being applied since a male athlete would not have been judged so harshly, as was the case with skeleton gold medalist Jon Montgomery's post race beer consumption.
[96] In 2006, environmental protests at Eagleridge Bluffs in West Vancouver over the building of a new highway resulted in the arrest of over 20 people, and jail time for two local women, Betty Krawczyk and Harriet Nahanee.
