Curtain goes down in Vancouver as Sochi takes up Olympic mantle

The closing ceremony of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games was held last night (February 28th), bringing to an end two weeks of sporting action that had left many people glued to their TV screens.

More than 5,000 athletes from 82 countries packed the 60,000 capacity BC Place stadium for the spectacular show, which featured musical performances from Michael Buble, Nickelback, Avril Lavigne and Alanis Morrisette.

Fresh from their heroic ice hockey victory over the US just hours earlier, Canadian fans packed the venue for the closing celebrations of the event which is likely to leave a tourism legacy for Vancouver.

Despite a few issues with snow at the beginning of the game, the ski resort of Whistler, which was an official venue for the games, staged an entertaining show and it is also likely to benefit from the event.

It is at this venue that phenomenal skier Bode Miller collected his first Olympic gold medal in the super combined, helping the US team pick up nine gold medals.

The nine pushed the US to the top of the leader board with a total of 37 medals, followed by Germany with 30, although it had three more golden gongs than the former.

Host nation Canada had its strongest winter Olympics ever, utilising home advantage to secure 14 gold medals, more than any other country, seven silvers and five bronzes, bringing its total to 26.

Norway, Austria, the Russian Federation and Korea walked away from the Games with 23, 16, 15 and 14 medals respectively, while China, Sweden and France, won a total of 11 medals each.

Thanks to the gold medal won by Olympic skeleton champion Amy Williams, Great Britain and Northern Ireland managed to land its only medal from the North American games, whose end now turns the attention to the next host city Sochi, Russia, in 2014.

Written by Chris Smith.

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