The 2010 winter Olympics, officially known as XXI Olympic Winter Games or the 21st winter Olympics will be held on February 12th-28th in Vancouver, British Columbia.



This will be the third Olympics held in Canada, and the first for British Columbia.



Vancouver mayor, Sam Sullivan received the Olympic flag at the closing of the 20th winter Olympics in Turin, Italy. The flag was raised February 28th, 2006 at Vancouver City Hall during a special ceremony. It will remain at Coty Hall until the Olympic opening ceremony which will officially opened by Governor General Michaelle Jean.



The opening and closing will be held at BC Place Stadium, making it the first-winter or summer-games to have the ceremonies held indoors.



The games will be held in ten different venues across Vancouver and Whistler, including the General Motors Place which will be renamed Canada Hockey Place for the duration of the games due to corporate sponsorship which is prohibited.



There are fifteen sporting events that are put into three categories: ice sports, alpine skiing and snowboarding and Nordic events. It is projected that over eighty different countries will be participating.