Photography by Kris Krug / kk@kriskrug.com :: 778-898-3076
The first week of the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics is officially over and the excitement is just growing! From all over the world, thousands of people have flooded into Vancouver for the first week of sporting events. The entire downtown area of Vancouver has been transformed into the likes of an Olympic Host City, with flags and Olympic rings everywhere! Kris Krüg from Static Photography has had the chance to experience some of the Olympic sporting events first hand, whether it be the actual competition or the awards ceremonies. We still have a just over a week left in the Olympic craziness but we wanted to do a quick photographic recap of the opening week.Come see what we saw for the first week of the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic Games!
The official Olympic flag has flying high in all of the venues of the Vancouver Winter Olympics, including BC Place, Canada Place and the Richmond Oval. The Olympics bring out flags from all around the world, with fans wanting to show their country’s pride wherever they are.
Canada fans have been flooding the Olympic Games to show their support for their country and their athletes. Tagged with canada temporary tattoos, Canada flags or official Olympic gear, Canadian fans are in full force at the Vancouver Winter Olympic Games.
South Korean speed skater Tae-Bum Mo won the gold medal in the men’s short track 500m. Each of the Olympic medals are one-of-a-kind designs, with their engravings taken from a larger piece of aboriginal art and their waves meant to represent organic landscape of Western Canada. Fact: these medals are among the heaviest Olympic Medals from any games.
The real medals amongst the Olympic fans are seen during the coveted pin trading sessions during the Games. Small medal pins are made for everything imaginable and often there are very rare ones in the mix. People come from all over the world to trade olympic pins, some dating back to the early 70s.
Fans come in all sizes and the small ones are no exception in their excitement over the Vancouver Winter Olympics. These kids were found waving their American flags in the Whistler Village.
This Whistler track was built especially for the Vancouver Winter Olympics in mind. Housing the bobsled, luge and skeleton races, this track has been under some controversy with its design, but with modifications was approved for competing during the actual Olympics.
Even Olympic athletes sometimes a fall on the course! During the men’s luge doubles competition, the team from Slovakia that took a spill at the end of their course run. Luckily this mishap ended with a smile on the athletes’ faces.
It is always an exciting moment when you can hold your Olympic event tickets in your hands. Here Static Photography studio manager Danielle Sipple holds two tickets to the women’s 500m speed skating event.
Canada was represented strongly during the Women’s 500 m Speed Skating competition at the Richmond Oval. The effortlessness that these skaters put into the sports is phenomenal. They are literally running on ice at top sprinting speed!
South Korean speed skater Lee Sang-Hwa won the gold medal for the Women’s 500 m race at the Richmond Oval. Many fans were out in support of South Korea, with huge Korean flags in hand. The crowd went nuts when Lee won the gold medal.
The influx of media at the Olympic sports events is huge! The media pit at all the events is filled with accredited photographers with the largest lens around. This type of gear is needed for the intense close-ups that are desired from sports photography.
Vancouver has been trying to bring all the amazing adventures to be had in BC and even Canada, right to your fingertips. The Olympic hub has been Robson Square, with the Ice Skating Rink, BCIMC, BC Pavilion and more are located. To top off the festivities, Eco-tours from Whistler has set-up a 170m zip line across the square. What a way to see the city of Vancouver!
Amazing artists and musicians have been flooding to the streets to showcase their talent, right there in front of you. Otherwise known as buskers, these talented performers will do live painting, perform music or even magic right on the street. Large events like the Olympic Games have brought a lively variety of entertainers to the streets.
During the Vancouver Winter Olympics, there are LiveCity sites set up to allow fans to have the Olympic experience for no cost. Large screens show the sports competition during the day and the medals ceremony in the evening. At the end of every night, LiveCity hosts a concert with some of the best musical acts. Matisyahu, who is behind the Olympic’s theme song ‘One Day’, played at the LiveCity Yaletown sight to a rained-on but happy crowd.
Hockey is a big event in Canada as it is deemed our national sport. So hockey played during the Olympics is a really big event! Here the USA vs. Norway men’s hockey event in one of the earlier games of the line-up
Zamboni: such a silly word for such a silly machine. This ice cleaning machine is definitely needed for most of the events during the Vancouver Winter Olympics. There was a bit of delay in the early start of the Olympic Games when the only zambonis in Vancouver broke down. Luckily a quick replacement from a neighboring city solved the ice problem!
There are fans from literally every country in the world at the Vancouver Olympic Games. Here are two French fans, walking through Whistler Village.
The rivalry between Canada and the USA is pure insanity! Often fighting like close siblings, American fans and Canadian fans definitely have a lot of pride for their respective countries!
This awesome little snowboarder was fresh off the mountain when he encountered his excited dog. Celebration can come in all forms even if it is just hugging the ones you love. This first week has just flown by in a big whirlwind of events and people, but Static Photography is very excited to see what comes of the second week in these games. Our best bet is that the gold medal men’s hockey game night is going to be insanity in Vancouver. Check back next week for our final recap of the last week of the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics!
