Features

Vancouver takes centre stage

Author: John Harris
Date: 13/02/2010
Olympic Games betting

After an absence of almost quarter of a century, the Winter Olympics is back in Canada.

Vancouver, in British Columbia, will play host to the best skiers, skaters and curlers in the world for a two-week jamboree of ice-related events.

The only other time the event was held in Canada was at Calgary in 1988 and before the International Olympic Committee adopted a policy of staging the winter games on alternate even years to avoid clashing with the more famous summer Olympiad.

That is not the only change to the games as the event is continually evolving to reflect the changing trends in winter sports.

Fifteen different disciplines will take place between February 12-28 and they range from the traditional alpine skiing and figure skating to newcomers snowboarding and ice hockey.

Vancouver certainly has a hard act to follow as the last games, in Turin in 2006, have gone down as one of the most successful in recent times.

Michael Greis won the first gold medal of the games for Germany in the 20km individual biathlon on day one.

Germany went on to dominate the games as they finished at the top of the medal table with 11 golds, 12, silvers and six bronzes.

United States were second thanks mainly to their speed-skaters and downhill skiers, while their vaunted ice-hockey team failed spectacularly after missing out on a medal during a disastrous competition.

Four years on and the US are pinning several medal hopes on star downhill skier Lindsey Vonn following her domination of the World Cup scene this season.

For the men, snowboarding sensation Shaun White will fly the flag following his gold in Turin.

Meanwhile, Shani Davis, the first black Winter Olympic individual event champion, is the favourite for a 1,000 and 1,500-metre double in speed-skating as he holds the world record in both events.

Elsewhere, Switzerland's Didier Cuche is the online betting favourite for the men's downhill despite coming into the games with a major question mark hanging over his fitness following a recent thumb injury.

Will Didier Cuche claim gold in the men's downhill? - Latest Winter Olympic Betting

Brian McKeever will be the darling of the home fans when he becomes the first athlete in history to compete at both the winter and Paralympic Games.

The cross-country skier has only ten per cent vision but defied the odds to win a place in the main Canada team.

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