A tale of two cities

A Sarajevo Story
XIV Olympic Winter Games

Identity Card

Opening date: 08 February 1984
Closing date: 19 February 1984

No one was more surprised when Sarajevo won the right to host the 1984 Olympics than the Yugoslav people. After all, no Winter Olympic Games had ever been held in a socialist country and Yugoslavia was immersed in both an economic and political state of disarray following the death of Josip Brod Tito. The Bosnian capital of Sarajevo was virtually unknown on the global stage when the Winter Olympics landed in the Balkans for the first time. Being awarded the Olympics meant that the Yugoslav government started to invest in expanding and restoring the historic city of Sarajevo, which was a combination of Austro-Hungarian grand imperial buildings and Ottoman-inspired minarets and mosques in the original Turkish part of town. In the 1980s, tourism in Sarajevo was minimal with few westerners venturing to the central Yugoslavian province of Bosnia, except for small numbers of neighboring Europeans. Unfortunately, the Olympics aren't what first spring to mind when people think of Sarajevo. The region captured headlines within a decade of the 1984 Games when it was a battleground in a brutal three-and-a-half-year conflict.Many of the facilities built for the Sarajevo Games were damaged or destroyed outright in the fighting that lasted from 1992 to 1995 following the recognition of Bosnia and Herzegovina as a sovereign state.After years of fighting Bosnia appears to have turned a corner. Sarajevo is rebuilding and the 1984 Olympic venues are no exception. In May 1999, a rebuilt, state-of-the-art Zetra Olympic Hall opened in Sarajevo. The project, spearheaded by the IOC, created such optimism that the Bosnia-Herzegovina Olympic Committee prepared a bid for the 2010 Winter Games, which were awarded to Vancouver.

Jahorina - Olympic ski centre is situated 25km from the capital Sarajevo and it is the largest and most beautiful ski resort in Bosnia and Herzegovina

VUCKO (Vuchko) wolf - mascot of the 1984 Sarajevo Winter Games.

Today many of Sarajevo's Olympic memories are just that - memories.

Vancouver - For 16 days
XXI Olympic Winter Games

Identity Card
Opening date: 12 February 2010
Closing date: 28 February 2010

The Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic Games will be held in Vancouver and Whistler, British Columbia. The 2010 Bid Committee originally wanted the games to be called the Vancouver Whistler 2010 Winter Olympic Games, but the IOC only allows one city name, with the name determined by the city that hosts the Opening and Closing ceremonies, namely Vancouver.With a population of more than 2.5 million people, Vancouver will be the largest metropolitan area to ever host a Winter Olympic Games.At the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games, the world’s best winter athletes will compete in six competition venues in the greater Vancouver region . Some of these venues were pre-existing but a number of others were built or adapted especially for the Games. These new venues have been designed for more than just 16 days of competition and will leave a long-term sustainable legacy to the region.

When the Olympic Torch Relay visited Toronto on December 17, 2009, thousands of Torontonians of all ages lined city streets to cheer on the Olympic Flame and attended the Community Celebration at Nathan Phillips Square on December 17.

So see ya in Vancouver on February 12, 2010.

Feb/12/10 - A day that was supposed to mark celebration and the start of the 2010 Olympic Games turned tragic on Friday morning following the death of Georgian luge athlete, Nodar Kumaritashvili. RIP
Feb/14/10 - Alexandre Bilodeau won the men's moguls Sunday. He is the first Canadian ever to win an Olympic gold medal on home soil.
Feb/17/10 - There is a new headline for the Vancouver 2010 Olympics. Not even halfway through The Winter Games are now being called "The Glitch Games" for the many hiccups and bugs that have surprised and aggravated city and Olympic officials. The opening ceremony glitch - the faulty hydraulics on the olympic cauldron. Cypress Mountain Weather - the general admission area unsafe so 28 thousand tickets were cancelled. The Ice at the Speed Skating Oval - ice conditions have not been ideal but the ice grooming machines have been a disaster and will be replaced.
The Fence surrounding the Olympic Cauldron and Flame is an ugly eye sore and needs to be fixed and it is still unclear whether VANOC response of moving the fence will satisfy visitors et.etc...

Feb/17/10 - Canadian Jon Montgomery slid his way to a gold medal at the Vancouver Olympics on Friday. He wins gold medal in Olympic men's skeleton, and gave the host country its fourth gold (Christine Nesbitt captured Canada's first speedskating gold medal and snowboarder Maelle Ricker won Canada's second Olympic gold medal.
Feb/28/10 - Closing Ceremony After 17 wonderful days of top athletic competition, Canada says congratulations and goodbye to world’s top winter athletes during light-hearted Closing Ceremony of 2010 Olympic Winter Games

Medal count: Canada Gold 14 Silver 7 and Bronze 5 TOTAL:26

Bosnia and Herzegovina at the 2010 Winter Olympics
The athletes entering the stadium during the opening ceremonies.