How Vancouver found out it won the 2010 Olympics
Bid included some events to be held up the road in Whistler, B.C.
Now, they could only wait.
An arena full of 18,000 people had gathered in Vancouver to hear the announcement they had been waiting for and working toward.
"They knew this was a cliffhanger," said the CBC's Terry Milewski on July 2, 2003. "And when the moment of decision drew near, 18,000 people fell silent."
They were waiting to hear which of two bids — one from Pyeongchang in South Korea and the other from Vancouver and Whistler, B.C. — the International Olympic Committee had chosen to host the 2010 Olympic Games.
Tight race
"The International Olympic Committee has the honour of announcing that the 21st Winter Olympic Games in 2010 are awarded to the city of —" began IOC President Jacques Rogge.
An agonizing pause followed.
"Vancouver," he said, and GM Place erupted into a frenzy of joy.
According to the Globe and Mail, the announcement came after the second ballot, which became necessary when the third candidate city of Salzburg, Austria, was dropped after the first due to insufficient votes.
Vancouver's margin of victory was only three votes.
"Relief, disbelief, joy — years of effort had paid off," said Milewski on CBC's The National.
'Our Games'
Not everyone was feeling the joy at hosting the Olympics in six and a half years, including what Milewski described as a "small" anti-Olympics group.
"We must look to the future, and our opposition must shift to its next phase: as that of a watchdog organization," said Chris Shaw of the 2010 No Games Coalition.
Back at the emptied-out GM Place, which had been packed with Olympians past and would-be volunteers for the 2010 event, the news was still sinking in.
"We've got the Games," said Jennifer Goepel, whose face was entirely painted in the red and white of the Maple Leaf flag.
"I can't believe I'm just saying it now. That's the first time I've actually said it — our Games."
