Details of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games competition schedules — including hourly accounts of the sport activities taking place over the 17 days of Olympic competition and 10 days of Paralympic competition in 2010 were released Friday. The announcement by the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (VANOC) stems from the approval of the hourly Olympic Winter Games Competition Schedule by the Executive Board of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in Beijing, China. The hourly Paralympic Winter Games Competition Schedule was approved by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) in 2007. With both schedules now approved and available at www.vancouver2010.com, and just about two months remaining until tickets to the Olympic Winter Games go on sale, on October 3, the picture just got much clearer for those planning to attend the Games in 2010.

Notable schedule highlights include: the Opening Ceremony which will launch the XXI Olympic Winter Games, at 6:00 pm on February 12, 2010, at BC Place; the final sport event of the Olympic Winter Games, the men’s gold medal hockey game, on February 28, at 12:15 pm at General Motors Place; the first Paralympic sport event, on March 13, when the men’s and ladies’ alpine skiing competitions begin at 9:30 am at Whistler Creekside; and the final Paralympic sport event on March 21, the men’s and ladies’ one-kilometre sprint finals in cross-country skiing, beginning at 12:00 pm at Whistler Paralympic Park. “This is a major milestone we can share with our sport and broadcast partners who worked closely with us to develop a balanced Games schedule that satisfies the respective International Sport Federations (IFs), television audiences around the world and spectators who will attend the Games,” said Cathy Priestner Allinger, VANOC’s executive vice president, Sport and Games Operations. “As with all Games, the schedule will maintain a degree of flexibility in timing. However, now that the overall schedule has been refined, we know it will be of great interest to spectators so they can plan their activities. But it’s also a key planning document for others. Broadcasters and service providers can begin to hone their plans for 2010. Our team can start finalizing all crucial systems to ensure an exemplary experience for all. And, perhaps most importantly, the world’s greatest winter athletes can further develop their game plans as they prepare to perform on the world’s largest stage in 2010.”

With nine competition venues, 12 stadiums, seven sports, 15 disciplines, 86 medal events for the 2010 Olympic Winter Games and 64 medal events for the 2010 Paralympic Winter Games, producing the hourly competition schedules has been a highly complex endeavour. The hourly competition schedules released today were built on the schedules announced by the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games in December 2007, which underwent eight subsequent revisions.