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Let the Games begin

Downhill race kicks off Olympic events

This is it. Just over six-and-a-half years ago, in July 2003, Canada beat out bids from South Korea and Austria to win the rights to host the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, setting off a flurry of activity.

For years, locals have endured road closures, construction projects, endless wrangling with the province over suitable legacies and battles big and small over everything from the location of the athletes' village to the decision to pave the day skier lots.

Meanwhile Canadian athletes have been training, in public and sometimes in secret, honing their skills to be able to do what no Canadian athlete has been able to do - to win a gold medal in an Olympics on home turf.

While Whistler has hosted some major sporting events in the past, from World Cups to World Championships, to standalone festivals like the Telus World Ski and Snowboard Festival and Crankworx, there's never been anything like this here - despite the fact that the impetus for developing Whistler as a ski resort came from a failed Olympic bid.

Whistler will host more than half of all medal events at the 2010 Games - all of the Nordic events (cross-country, biathlon, ski jumping and nordic combined), all of the alpine events (slalom, giant slalom, downhill, super G and super combined) and all of the sliding events (bobsleigh, skeleton and luge).

As well, Whistler and Sea to Sky athletes will be competing at events at Cypress Mountain this week.

If you don't have tickets to any events you might want to check in at the ticket booth by the Whistler Celebration Plaza to see what's available - there are still tickets available to locals for some events, and additional blocks of tickets are still being released. As well, you can watch all the events on various screens at Live Sites around Whistler Village, as well as at home on CTV.

Here's a rundown of the first half of the Games:

 

Friday, Feb. 12

The men's Normal Hill Qualification Round ski jumping competition takes place at Whistler Olympic Park from 10 a.m. to around 11:05 a.m., and will be broadcast live on screens in Skier's Plaza, Village Square, Village Common and Town Plaza.

There's a Pre-Olympic Show at 4:30 p.m., followed by the Opening Ceremonies at 6:30 p.m. Both will be broadcast on village screens.

 

Saturday, Feb. 13

The men's downhill ski race kicks off the medal events for the 2010 Games on Saturday morning. Canada is a contender in this event with Manuel Osborne-Paradis and Robbie Dixon racing on their home track and Erik Guay skiing consistently on the World Cup circuit.

The pre-show gets underway at 10:30 a.m., with the first racers heading down the course at 11:45 a.m. You can watch it on screens at Skier's Plaza, Village Square and Village Common.

The Men's 5,000 metre long track speed skating competition gets underway at noon, but will be rebroadcast on the Skier's Plaza screen at 1:15 p.m.

The women's 7.5 km sprint biathlon competition is at 1 p.m. but will not be broadcast in the village.

After going through the qualifier the previous day, ski jumpers compete in the normal hill competition. The first round is at 9:15 a.m., with the final round getting underway at 10:45 a.m. It will be rebroadcast at Skier's Plaza at 2:30 p.m.

The main event of the evening is the ladies' moguls at Cypress, with the qualifier taking place at 4:30 p.m. and the main event running under the lights at 7:30 p.m.

It will be shown on the Skier's Plaza screen, alternating with the first two of four runs in the men's single luge.

The first two rounds of men's single luge take place at 5 p.m. and 7:10 p.m., and will be broadcast at Skier's Plaza.

Screens in Village Common and Town Plaza will also be broadcasting the Canadian women's hockey team against Slovakia at 5 p.m. For hockey fans who hate to see Canada lose that's as close as a sure thing you're going to get.

 

Sunday, Feb. 14

Save your Valentine roses for members of the women's alpine ski team, who take over on Sunday with the super combined. The first downhill run takes place at 10 a.m. followed by the slalom at 1 p.m. The skier with the lowest combined time in the two events wins. The event will be broadcast live at Skier's Plaza, Village Square, Village Common and Town Plaza.

Biathlon fans will get their first slice of the action at 11:15 a.m. with the men's 10 km sprint event. It will be rebroadcast at noon at Skier's Plaza and Village Square.

The last two runs of the men's individual luge take place this afternoon with the first run at 1 p.m. and the second at 3:10 p.m. The first round can be watched live at Village Common and the second round at Skier's Plaza.

The men's 10 km sprint biathlon is at 11:15 a.m. but will not be broadcast in the village.

 

Monday, Feb. 15

Cross-country racing fans have a great day ahead of them with the ladies' 10 km free race getting underway at 10 a.m. and the men's 10 km free competition at 12:30 p.m. Both events will be shown at Skier's Plaza, Village Square and Village Common.

The men's snowboardcross also takes place through the day with the qualifier at 10:30 a.m., the Round of Eight (32 athletes) at 2 p.m., the quarterfinals (16 athletes) at 2:26 p.m., the semi-finals (eighth athletes) at 2:42 p.m. and the finals (four athletes in the final, four in the small final) at 2:53 p.m. All rounds can be watched at Skier's Plaza, Village Square and Village Common.

The Canadian women's hockey team place Switzerland at 2:30 p.m. but the game will not be broadcast on screens in Whistler.

 

Tuesday, Feb. 16

The men's alpine combined event gets underway with the downhill at 10 a.m., followed by the slalom at 1:30 p.m. Both will be broadcast live at Skier's Plaza, Village Square and Village Common. The downhill will also be shown at the Town Plaza screen.

Women's snowboardcross at Cypress is a big event for Whistler with Maƫlle Ricker looking to best her fourth place finish in 2006. The qualifier is at 10 a.m., the quarterfinals at 12:15 p.m., the semi-finals at 12:29 p.m. and the finals and small finals at 12:40 p.m. The event will be broadcast from noon onwards at Skier's Plaza, Village Square and Village Common.

The men's hockey tournament gets underway with Team Canada taking on Norway at 4:30 p.m. The game will not be broadcast on Whistler screens.

The women's 10 km pursuit biathlon is at 10:30 a.m. while the men race the 12.5 km pursuit at 12:45 p.m. Neither will be broadcast in the village.

 

Wednesday, Feb. 17

The women's downhill, which will feature Whistler's own Britt Janyk, takes place at 11 a.m. and will be shown at all four village screens.

Wednesday is also the sprint classic day for cross-country athletes, with the women racing a 1.2 km course and the men a 1.4 km course.

The women's qualifier runs at 10:15 a.m., followed by the men at 10:40 a.m. From there the women move onto the quarterfinal at 12:30 p.m., followed by the men's quarterfinal at 12:55 p.m. The finals at 1:20 p.m. and 1:30 p.m. respectively, follow the semi-final rounds at 1:45 p.m. and 1:55 p.m. respectively. The broadcast will run from around 12:30 p.m. onward at the Village Square screen.

The women's hockey team will face off against Sweden, the 2006 silver medalists, at 2:30 p.m. The game will be broadcast on screens at Skier's Plaza and Village Common.

The men's halfpipe also takes place at Cypress on Wednesday with the qualifier at 1:05 p.m., followed by the semifinals at 5:15 p.m. The finals are at 7:15 p.m., and will be broadcast in Whistler at Skier's Plaza and Village Common.

 

Thursday, Feb. 18

The biathlon events continue with the women's biathlon 15 km individual competition at 10 a.m. and the men's individual competition at 1 p.m. The women's biathlon will be shown at all four village screens, while the men's will be broadcast at Village Common.

The women's halfpipe qualifier gets underway at 12:30 p.m., followed by the semifinals at 4 p.m. and the finals at 6 p.m. The qualifier will be shown at Skier's Plaza and Village Square and the quarterfinals and finals at Village Square and Town Plaza.

The men's hockey team is playing Switzerland at 4:30 p.m. and the game will be broadcast at Skier's Plaza and Village Common.