The Winter Olympic Games, also known as the Winter Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event held once every four years for sports practiced on snow and ice. The first Winter Olympic Games, the 1924 Winter Olympics, were held in Chamonix, France. The modern Olympic Games were inspired by the ancient Olympic Games, which were held in Olympia, Greece, from 776 BCE to 394 CE. The Baron Pierre de Coubertin of France founded the International Olympic Committee (IOC) 1,500 years later in 1894, leading to the first modern Summer Olympic Games in Athens, Greece in 1896. The IOC is the governing body of the Olympic Movement, with the Olympic Charter defining its structure and authority. The original five Winter Olympic Sports were bobsleigh, curling, ice hockey, Nordic skiing, and skating. The Games were held every four years from 1924 to 1936, interrupted in 1940 and 1944 by World War II, and resumed in 1948. Until 1992, the Summer Olympic Games and the Winter Olympic Games were held in the same year. A decision to change this was made in 1986, when during the 91st International Olympic Committee session, IOC members decided to alternate the Summer Olympic Games and the Winter Olympic Games on separate four-year cycles in even-numbered years. Also, at that same congress it was decided that 1992 Winter Olympics would be the last to be held in the same year as the Summer Games and that to change the rotation, the games that would be held in 1996 would be brought forward by two years, being scheduled to 1994. After those games, the next were to be held in 1998 when the four-year Olympic Cycle resumed.
The 1948 Winter Olympics, officially known as the V Olympic Winter Games and commonly known as St. Moritz 1948, were a winter multi-sport event held from 30 January to 8 February 1948 in St. Moritz, Switzerland. The Games were the first to be celebrated after World War II; it had been twelve years since the last Winter Games in 1936.
The 1960 Winter Olympics were a winter multi-sport event held from February 18 to 28, 1960, at the Squaw Valley Resort in Squaw Valley, California, United States. The resort was chosen to host the Games at the 1956 meeting of the International Olympic Committee (IOC). Squaw Valley was an undeveloped resort in 1955, so the infrastructure and all of the venues were built between 1956 and 1960 at a cost of US$80,000,000. The layout was designed to be intimate, allowing spectators and competitors to reach most of the venues on foot.
The 2010 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XXI Olympic Winter Games and also known as Vancouver 2010, were an international winter multi-sport event held from February 12 to 28, 2010 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, with some events held in the surrounding suburbs of Richmond, West Vancouver and the University of British Columbia, and in the nearby resort town of Whistler. It was regarded by the Olympic Committee to be among the most successful Olympic games in history, in both attendance and coverage. Approximately 2,600 athletes from 82 nations participated in 86 events in fifteen disciplines. Both the Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games were organized by the Vancouver Organizing Committee (VANOC), headed by John Furlong. The 2010 Winter Games were the third Olympics to be hosted by Canada, and the first to be held within the province of British Columbia. Canada had hosted the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, Quebec, and the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary, Alberta.
Frank Joseph Zamboni Jr. was an American businessman and inventor whose most famous invention is the modern ice resurfacer, with his surname being registered as a trademark for these devices.
An ice rink is a frozen body of water or an artificial sheet of ice where people can ice skate or play winter sports. Ice rinks are also used for exhibitions, contests and ice shows. The growth and increasing popularity of ice skating during the 1800s marked a rise in the deliberate construction of ice rinks in numerous areas of the world.
An ice resurfacer is a vehicle or hand-pushed device for cleaning and smoothing the surface of a sheet of ice, usually in an ice rink. The first ice resurfacer was developed by American inventor and engineer Frank Zamboni in 1949 in Paramount, California. As such, an ice resurfacer is often referred to as a "Zamboni" as a genericized trademark.
Frank J. Zamboni & Company is an American manufacturer of ice resurfacing equipment based in Paramount, California. Frank J. Zamboni developed the first ice resurfacing machine in 1949, and started the Zamboni Company in 1950. Zamboni is an internationally registered trademark.
Clayton Equipment Company Ltd, now known simply as Clayton Equipment Ltd or CEC and CEL, is a locomotive construction company that specialises in rail equipment, design and build, tunnelling, mining, metro, mainline and shunter locomotives.
The Richmond Olympic Oval is an indoor multi-sports arena in the Canadian city of Richmond, British Columbia. The oval was built for the 2010 Winter Olympics and was originally configured with a speed skating rink. The venue has since been reconfigured and now serves as a community multi-sport park and includes two ice hockey rinks, two running tracks, a climbing wall, a rowing tank and a flexible area which can be used for, among other sports, basketball, volleyball, indoor soccer and table tennis.
Canada hosted and participated in the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, British Columbia. Canada previously hosted the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal and the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary. Canada sent a team of 206 athletes, including participants in all 15 sports, and finished with 14 gold medals and 26 in total, surpassing their previous best medal performance at the 2006 Winter Olympics. The 14 gold medals also set the all-time record for most gold medals at a single Winter Olympics, one more than the previous record of 13 set by the former Soviet Union in 1976 and Norway in 2002. This record was matched at the 2018 PyeongChang Games when Germany and Norway tied it, and broken at the 2022 Beijing Games by Norway. Canada was the first host nation to win the gold medal count at a Winter Olympics since Norway at the 1952 Winter Olympics.
The men's 500 metres speed skating competition of the Vancouver 2010 Olympics was held at Richmond Olympic Oval on 15 February 2010.
A number of concerns and controversies at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, surfaced before and during the Games, and which received media coverage.
The New England Sports Center is a two-story, eight-rink ice-skating facility located in Marlborough, Massachusetts. Covering 22.3 acres (90,000 m2) of suburban land, the 220,000-square-foot (20,000 m2) building has over 65 locker rooms, a hockey pro shop, ice skate sharpening, ice skate rentals, function rooms, a full-service restaurant, and a snack bar. In addition to the eight full-size rinks, the facility has two miniature ice surfaces, Rinks 9 and 10. Host to the Haydenettes, home to the Skating Club of Boston Metrowest, the Minuteman Flames, Central Mass. Outlaws, and the Junior Bruins hockey teams, the New England Sports Center is noteworthy for having more ice-skating surfaces than any other arena in the New England area.
For the 1936 Winter Olympics in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, a total of six sports venues were used. Alpine skiing events took place for the first time and were held in three different locations. Riessersee held the speed skating and some of the ice hockey matches while the bobsleigh events took place south of the lake. The ski jump and its neighboring stadium played host to the cross-country skiing, Nordic combined, and ski jumping events. Even though figure skating and some of the ice hockey matches took place outdoors at the ice stadium, the ice itself was artificially refrigerated to prevent ice thawing.
For the 1960 Winter Olympics in Squaw Valley, California, in the United States, a total of five sports venues were used. Except for the Palisades Tahoe, all of the venues had to be constructed. For the first time in Winter Olympic history, a temporary venue was constructed at McKinney Creek for biathlon, cross-country skiing, and Nordic combined. A bobsleigh track was not constructed over the guarantees from the FIBT not being able to field the minimum twelve teams needed to compete, making it the only time bobsleigh has not been included in the Winter Olympics.
Tideland Signal, sometimes referred to as Tidelands, was a privately held, Houston, Texas based manufacturer of marine navigational aids, with main offices in Lafayette, Louisiana, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, Burgess Hill, UK, Dubai, United Arab Emirates and Singapore. It was the manufacturer of the ML-300 lantern, widely used in lighthouses around the world for more than 50 years.
The Brașov Olympic Ice Rink is a multi-purpose ice rink in Brașov, Romania. Located at number 5 Turnului Street which is 5 minutes walking distance from the railway station and easily accessible by public transportation, it was opened in January 2010.
The British Rail Class 18 is a class of hybrid locomotives designed and built by the British railway locomotive manufacturer Clayton Equipment Company in Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire. It has also been referred to as the CBD90 Hybrid+ by Clayton and private railway customers.
