The Vancouver Winter Olympics ended in spectacular triumph on Sunday with a dazzling closing ceremony that mixed traditional pomp with self-deprecating humor to end 17 days of unrelenting drama and action.
The President of the International Olympic Committee Jacques Rogge declared the Games “excellent and very friendly” in a closing speech that paid tribute to the Georgian luger who was killed in a training accident before the Games opened on Feb. 12.
“We have shared the grief of an Olympic dream cut short. The memory of Nodar Kumaritashvili will always be with us,” Rogge said before declaring the Games closed and inviting the world’s athletes to reassemble at Sochi, Russia for the 2014 Winter Olympics.
PHOTO: EPA
Millions of Canadians had already begun celebrating long before the ceremony began after the host-nation defeated the US 3-2 in a nerve-churning men’s hockey final to claim a record 14th gold medal.
The whole country, it seemed, had stopped to watch the three-hour drama on ice.
Sidney Crosby scored the winner after the Americans had equalized 24 seconds from the end of regular time to force the match into overtime and threaten to spoil Canada’s party.
PHOTO: AFP
“You dream of that moment a thousand times growing up,” Crosby said. “For that to come true is pretty amazing.”
The hockey was one of just two medals decided on the last day with Norway’s Petter Northug winning the first in the men’s 50km cross country ski race at Whistler after the closest ever finish to the lung-bursting event.
Northug sneaked past Germany’s Axel Teichmann right at the finish line to win the gold by just 0.3 seconds with Sweden’s Johan Olsson taking the bronze.
Canada were already assured of finishing top of the standings for the first time at either a Winter or Summer Olympics but beating their US neighbors was the perfect ending for the hockey-crazy host nation.
“Our last one [gold] will be remembered for generations,” Vancouver’s organizing chief John Furlong said at the ceremony.
The Canadian victory set a new record for golds won by any nation at a single Winter Games, surpassing the previous mark of 13 jointly held by the Soviet Union (Innsbruck, 1976) and Norway (Salt Lake City, 2002).
The US also set a record for the most overall medals won at a single Winter Olympics, finishing with 37, one more than Germany in 2002, but that was of little consolation to members of their beaten hockey team.
It was a match of unrelenting tension and drama that captivated millions of people.
Vancouver’s central business district and harbor foreshore was transformed into a heaving mass of people dressed in red and white and waving Maple Leaf flags.
“I just couldn’t help myself when I saw us winning,” said Suze Dickinson. “I said I’m getting dressed up in every single red thing I own including my panties and my bra and coming here.”
Every restaurant and bar was packed to overflowing while local television broadcast pictures of US and Canadian troops in Afghanistan watching the game together, under a sign “Brothers in arms, not on the ice.”
The festivities spilled into the closing ceremony at BC Place with the hosts poking fun at themselves in a two-hour extravaganza dripping with self-mockery.
Actors Michael J. Fox, William Shatner and Catherine O’Hara joined in the irreverent theme with witty monologues teasing their compatriots’ penchant for politeness.
Giant inflatable beavers, moose and Mounties all joined in a game of table hockey that took an irreverent view of the country’s obsession with the sport.
The organizers even made fun of one of the technical glitches at the opening ceremony, belatedly raising one of the huge ice crystal legs that had malfunctioned.
It was all in stark contrast to the gloom that surrounded the first week when bad weather, some bad planning and plain bad luck conspired against the Games.
“These Olympic Games have lifted us up,” Furlong said. “If the Canada that came together on opening night was a little mysterious to some it no longer is. Now you know us ... eh?”
The closing ceremony was not all just wisecracks and slapstick, there were some sombre moments too.
Like Rogge, Furlong also spoke about the grief he felt over Kumaritashvili’s death and figure skater Joannie Rochette was given the honor of carrying the Canadian flag after she won the hearts of her country by winning a bronze medal despite grieving the sudden death of her mother.
Brazil has four teams, more than any other country, in the expanded Club World Cup that kicked off yesterday in the US, but for SE Palmeiras, the competition holds a special meaning: winning it would provide some redemption. Under coach Abel Ferreira since 2020, Palmeiras lifted two Copa Libertadores titles, plus Brazilian league, cup and state championships. Even before Ferreira, it boasted another South American crown and 11 league titles. The only major trophy missing is a world champions’ title. Other Brazilian clubs like Fluminense FC and Botafogo FR, also in the tournament, have never won it either, but the problem for Palmeiras
Paris Saint-Germain’s Lee Kang-in has pleaded with South Korea fans to get behind the team at the 2026 FIFA World Cup after more boos were aimed at coach Hong Myung-bo despite leading them to qualification. South Korea reached next year’s finals in North America without losing a game, but that does not tell the whole story. The country’s soccer association has been in the firing line, having scrambled about to find a successor after sacking the unpopular Jurgen Klinsmann in February last year. They eventually settled on Hong, the decorated former skipper who had an unsuccessful stint as coach in 2013-2014, during which
Lionel Messi drew vast crowds and showed flashes of his brilliance when his Inter Miami side were held to a goalless draw by African giants Al-Ahly as the revamped FIFA Club World Cup got off to a festive start on Saturday. Fans showed up en masse for the Group A clash at the Hard Rock Stadium, home to the NFL’s Miami Dolphins, but Messi could not fully deliver, his best chance coming through a last-second attempt that was deflected onto the crossbar. Inter Miami next face FC Porto on Thursday in Atlanta, while Al-Ahly, who benefited from raucous, massive support, are to
Ferrari’s F1 fortunes might be flagging, but the Italian team start this weekend’s 24 Hours of Le Mans as favorites, targeting a third consecutive triumph in motorsport’s fabled endurance classic. Roger Federer is acting as celebrity starter with the tennis icon getting the 93rd edition of the jewel in four-wheeled endurance racing’s crown under way tomorrow. Twenty-four hours later, through daylight, darkness and dawn, the 21 elite hypercars are to battle it out over 300 laps (more than 4,000km) in front of a sold-out 320,000 crowd burning the midnight oil with copious quantities of coffee and beer. Ferrari made a triumphant return after
RSS