If you discover an interesting or fun fact about the Olympics, please email it to Jdesmond@ussa.org.

The early Olympic Games were celebrated as a religious festival from 776 B.C. until 393 A.D., when the games were banned for being a pagan festival (the Olympics celebrated the Greek god Zeus). In 1894, a French educator Baron Pierre de Coubertin, proposed a revival of the ancient tradition, and thus the modern-day Olympic Summer Games were born. The first Winter Olympic Games were held in Chamonix, France in 1924.

The ancient Greeks believed that fire was given to mankind by Prometheus, and considered fire to have sacred qualities. Eternal flames lit using the rays of the sun, burned in front of Greek temples. This tradition has been carried on to the present. The Olympic flame is lit in front of the ruins of the Temple of Hera in Olympia, emphasizing the connection between the ancient Games and the modern Games. An actress playing a high priestess uses a parabolic mirror to focus the rays of the sun, igniting a flame. A long relay of runners carry torches to bring the sacrad fire to the site of the Games. There, the final torch is used to light a cauldron that remains lit until it is extinguished in the Closing Ceremony.

The Olympic Anthem was written for the first modern Games in 1896, composed by Spyros Samaras to lyrics written by Kostis Palamas. Each subsequent Olympics through 1956 had its own musical composition, played as the Olympic flag was raised during the Opening Ceremony. From the 1960 Games onward, the Samaras/Palamas work has been the official anthem played at every Olympics.
 

The English translation of the anthem is as follows:

Immortal spirit of antiquity,
Father of the true, beautiful and good,
Descend, appear, shed over us thy light
Upon this ground and under this sky
Which has first witnessed thy unperishable fame

Give life and animation to those noble games!
Throw wreaths of fadeless flowers to the victors
In the race and in the strife!
Create in our breasts, hearts of steel!

In thy light, plains, mountains and seas
Shine in a roseate hue and form a vast temple
To which all nations throng to adore thee,
Oh immortal spirit of antiquity!

Ghana, Bahamas, Gabon and The Cayman Islands will make their Winter Olympic Debut in 2010.

The number of participating countries who are sending Olympic athletes to Vancouvere 2010 will exceed 80.

The estimated total cost of the Vancouver Olympics 2010 is currently set at $1.76 Billion.

This season of the Olympic Winter Games will be held in Vancounver, BC.  Voted the "Best City in the Americas" by Conde Nast Traveler as well as the "world's most liveable city" by the Economist Intelligence Unit,

Fun Facts about the City of Vancouver
 

• In 1806, Lewis & Clark camped near the Vancouver waterfront and named the place "the only desired situation for settlement west of the Rocky Mountains."
• Vancouver is the oldest, permanent non-native settlement in the Pacific Northwest.
• Vancouver inhabits the oldest, living apple tree in the Pacific Northwest which was planted in 1826.
• In 1840, Vancouver became the largest fish exporter on the Pacific Coast.
• On June 13, 1886, the fire known as "The Great Fire" swept through Vancouver and destroyed the whole town in a matter of 20 to 45 minutes.  They started to rebuild the town while it was still smoking, this time mostly in brick.
• Due to the arrival of the railway, Vancouver's population boomed from 13,709 to 29,000 in just ten years; between 1891 to 1901.
• Built in 1905, Vancouver has one of the oldest, still-used airports in the country.
• The first transpolar flight from the Soviet Union landed here at Pearson Field.

Because BC Place Stadium is a stadium with a solid roof, it is the first time that the Olympic torch will be lit indoors.

The mascots for the Winter Olympics are Miga (a mythical sea bear) and Quatchi (Sasquatch).  The Paralympics mascot is Sumi (an animal guardian spirit).

Whistler was first developed with the idea of hosting the Olympics in 1968.  Although it was beat out by Grenoble, France at the time, not only has it grown to be a desired destination but it is also consistently ranked in the top five ski resorts of the world by SKI magazine.  Finally in the year 2010, Whistler will receive the attention it deserves and succumb to its original inspirations and host the Olympic Winter Games!

The mountain of Whistler reaches 7,160 feet (2,181 m) with an average snowfall of 33 feet (10 m) per year.

The Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games will take place in the shared traditional territories of the Squamish Nation and Lil'wat Nation.  The Squamish Lil'wat Cultural Centre is in the premier alpine resort of Whistler.  The Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (VANOC) and the Province of BC are committed to the meaningful involvement of our Nations in hosting a successful 2010 Winter Games.

To honor Squamish and Lil'wat traditions, Ray Natrall spent time researching historical records and seeking advice from the elders in order to revive the unique Squamish style of carving.  Canoes have been carved and displayed in the Great Hall of The Squamish Lil'wat Cultural Centre.  The Salish hunting canoe is 40 feet long - almost twice the height of the Great Hall ceiling.  Named Nexws Chachu7, it was carved from a single cedar tree.  It must be removed from exhibition each year and taken on a journey in the ocean to honor the spirit of the canoe.

When The Squamish Lil'wat Cultural Centre was under construction, a mother bear and her cub wandered through the building.  In the First Nations culture, they believe that the bear has blessed the building and that it will be good for our families, as well as for other families who visit.