3. Three top facts about Vancouver and Canada 1) Canada is the second largest country in the world. It is more than 69 times the size of the United Kingdom! 2) Vancouver is in the province of British Columbia in Canada and is a famous winter sport destination 3) Vancouver is the largest city in the province of British Columbia
4. Three top facts about the Winter Olympic Games 1) The first Winter Olympic Games were held in Chamonix, France in 1924 2) Before that, figure skating and ice hockey had been events at the Summer Olympic Games! 3) The Winter Olympic Games are held every four years. In 2010 they are in Vancouver, in 2006 they were held in Turin, Italy
5. Three top facts about the Winter Paralympic Games 1) The first Winter Paralympic Games were held in Sweden in 1976 2) Ragnhild Wyklebust from Norway holds the record for the most ever medals won at the Winter Paralympic Games – she has won more than 22! 3) At the 2004 Winter Paralympic Games in Italy, 486 athletes from 39 countries competed
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8. Get Set for the Winter Games Don’t get left out in the cold! Rise to the challenge with the Get Set Winter Games competition! Enter our competition and you could be in with the chance of winning some fantastic prizes from adidas! We’ve got six sets of shirts to give away (and we’ll even embroider them with your school name and logo) plus 60 kit bags and water bottles!
Editor's Notes
‘ With Glowing Hearts’ is the 2010 Winter Games motto. It comes from the Canadian National Anthem. “ Des plus brilliants exploits” was unveiled as the French motto for the Games. Although the English and French versions are different, they are both taken from the national anthem.
Where is Vancouver – which country? What kind of weather is needed for the Winter Games? What might happen if there wasn’t enough snow? What might happen if the ice started to melt? Vancouver is a low altitude city and a sea-port. How would this affect its climate? (both these factors would make the climate relatively mild) What kind of terrain would you expect to find at Whistler ( high altitude – mountainous) and how would this affect the climate? Where in the British Isles would it be possible to stage winter sports and why?
Would it have been possible to keep an ice rink cold at the turn of the 20 th century? (Yes – they had to do this to stage skating and hockey at the Summer Games.) Why do you think the Games were separated into Summer and Winter?
There will be different categories within these sports. In the first Olympic Winter Games, 16 nations participated, bringing 258 athletes (11 women, 247 men) to compete in 16 events. During the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games, many more athletes – approximately 2,500 – will compete in 15 sports and over 86 separate medal events
In most Paralympic sports, competitors with similar disabilities compete against one another according to that sport’s rules. During the Vancouver 2010 Paralympic Winter Games, approximately 600 athletes will compete in four sports and 64 separate medal events.
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