The Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games: By the numbers

VANCOUVER, Feb. 28 /CNW/ - After 17 days of thrilling athletic competitions, amazing displays of sportsmanship and magical moments when lifelong dreams were finally realized on the podium, the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games will draw to their official close tonight.

In looking back and celebrating the impact of Canada's Games and the future of the Olympic Winter Games, the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (VANOC) would like to share some of the initial statistics available.

    
    By the numbers: The Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games
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    February 12 to 28, 2010

    -  17 days of thrilling competition and athletic accomplishments
    -  15 sport disciplines
    -  9 competition venues
    -  3 Olympic training facilities
    -  86 medal competitions
    -  86 Victory Ceremonies (16 in-venue medal presentations, 25 at BC Place
       and 45 at Whistler Medals Plaza)
    -  615 medals awarded
    -  1,055 athlete bouquets presented
    -  82 participating National Olympic Committees (NOCs)
    -  6,500 athletes and team officials in total
    -  2,632 registered athletes
    -  50,000 workforce members for the Games, including paid, contractor and
       volunteers
    -  Of that total, 18,500 were volunteers; 6,500 volunteers will also work
       during the Paralympic Winter Games
    -  25,000 workforce uniforms distributed
    -  96,409 people accredited for the Games
    -  10,800 media representatives: 7,000 rights holding broadcasters, 2,800
       press reporters and photographers and non-rights holding broadcasters,
       as well as 1,000 host Olympic Broadcast Service (OBSV) personnel
    -  3.5 billion worldwide television viewers are estimated to have tuned
       into the Games
    -  Olympic rights holding broadcasters have offered Vancouver 2010 Winter
       Olympic Games coverage on more than 300 TV stations and on more than
       100 websites worldwide
    -  47 per cent more global television coverage of the Games than for the
       Torino 2006 Olympic Winter Games
    -  This represents approximately 24,000 hours of coverage
    -  50,000 hours of total broadcast hours of the Games across all media
       platforms around the world
    -  6,000 hours of coverage worldwide on mobile platforms
    -  As of Day 15, 33.1 million Canadians (99 per cent) have watched
       coverage
    -  27.7 million cumulative audience or CUME (meaning 82.7 per cent of
       Canadians) experienced the Games on February 27 through the platforms
       of Canada's Olympic Broadcast Media Consortium.
    -  1,500 appearances by the Vancouver 2010 mascots: Quatchi, Miga and
       Sumi by the end of the Games
    -  20,567 deliveries made to Olympic venues
    -  1.6 million tickets available for the 2010 Winter Games
    -  More than 3.3 million pairs of Vancouver 2010 Red Mittens sold
    -  $500-million target for gross retail sales of Vancouver 2010 branded
       merchandise met by end of Games
    -  2.2 million people engaged to date by the Vancouver 2010 Cultural
       Oympiad, which will continue for three more weeks
    -  More than 4,000 artists at 600 events, over 60 days in 60 venues are
       taking part in the Cultural Olympiad
    -  More than 12,500 volunteer hours clocked for Olympic Closing Ceremony.
       The thousands of volunteer performers range in age from 10 to 68
    -  More than 450 racks of costumes, 3,600 metres of elastic, 4,100 pairs
       of shoes, 18 kilograms of glitter, 10,000 green sequins, 200 giant
       spheres and balloons, as well as 20 zygote balls were used in the
       Opening and Closing Ceremonies
    -  275 million visitors in total to www.vancouver2010.com, shattering the
       previous record of 105 million set during the Beijing 2008 Games
    -  78 million total unique visitors to the site
    -  A record of 9,185,306 unique visits in a single day -- set on February
       24. The previous record set during the 2008 Summer Games was 8,797,614
       on August 11, 2008
    -  Vancouver2010.com was visited 85 million times this month from within
       Canada and reached more than 70 per cent of Canadians with Internet
       access and over 50 per cent of the total Canadian population
    -  19.1 per cent of North Americans with Internet access visited the
       website this month
    -  4.6 per cent of people worldwide with Internet access visited the site
       this month
    -  14,000 followers on Twitter.com/2010Tweets
    -  More than 1.25 million downloads recorded for the official mobile
       spectator guide, which for 10 days of the Games was the No. 1 free app
       in Canada
    -  1.1 million Facebook fans, nearly four times the total amount for
       Beijing at the conclusion of the 2008 Games.
    

For further information: Media Contact: VANOC Media Relations, Tel: [phone], E-mail: [email protected]