The Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics opening ceremonies at BC Place begin on a sombre note after being dedicated to 21-year-old Georgian luger Nodar Kumaritashvili, who died while practicing the previous day. Ceremony mastermind David Atkins spent somewhere between $30 million and $40 million on the production, roughly a tenth of Beijing’s budget for the 2008 Games, which began with snowboarder Johnny Lyall jumping through the Olympic rings.
An estimated 23 million Canadians -- or two out of three Canadians -- watched at least some of the broadcast performance, which ended on a bit of an awkward note after the Olympic cauldron malfunctioned and left speedskater Catriona Le May Doan, one of four torchbearers, stuck with nothing to do. After an impressive fireworks display, Wayne Gretzky was then placed in the back of a pickup truck and chased through the streets by fans before lighting the official Olympic cauldron at Jack Poole Plaza.
