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Friday's opening ceremony of the Paralympics will be a family-friendly show that will include a segment about the origins of the international sporting event, says the producer of the event.

VANCOUVER '€” The massive $900-million security operation that patrolled roads, buildings, waterways and air space during the Olympics will be drastically downsized for the much-smaller Paralympic Games.

Instead of a security team of 15,300, the Vancouver 2010 Integrated Security Unit (ISU) will have fewer than 2,000 members during the Paralympic Games, which take place from March 12 to 21, spokeswoman Cpl. Jen Allan said.

VANCOUVER '€” Now the real work starts. With the Olympics over and the Paralympics yet to take place, some of the venues no longer needed are starting to be cleaned out and returned to the public.

But don't expect to get back on to ski slopes or into hockey rinks and community centres too soon, with the exception of weather-plagued Cypress.

VANCOUVER '€” They began with death and recrimination, with bad weather and harsh criticism, and, for a short while, people were saying the Vancouver Games would go down in history as the worst Winter Olympics ever.

VANCOUVER '€” Figure skater Joannie Rochette, who captured the hearts of the nation for her bronze-medal performance in the grief-stricken days following the death of her mother, carried the Canadian flag into the closing ceremonies Sunday night.

VANCOUVER (AP) -- An Olympics that began with the death of a luger ended Sunday with an exuberant celebration of Canada -- reflecting a determined comeback by the host country's organizers and athletes.

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A crash involving all four finalists in the last lap of the 500-metre men's short track cast the outcome in doubt, but after minutes of deliberation, the officials declared Canadian Charles Hamelin the winner, and gave the bronze medal to his teammate, Francois-Louis Tremblay.

American skater Apolo Anton Ohno was disqualified in the final, apparently for causing the crash in the final turn.

 More Images »  Lucy Nicholson, Reuters

China's Yang Zhou set a new world record with a time of 1:29.049 in women's 1,000-metre short track speed skating in her semifinal heat.

She will face teammate Meng Wang, American Katherine Reutter, and Korea's Seung-Hi Park in Friday night's finals at 7:30pm.

More Images » Lucy Nicholson, Reuters

China's Yang Zhou set a new world record with a time of 1:29.049 in women's 1,000-metre short track speed skating in her semifinal heat.

Charles Hamelin could easily be the next Canadian gold medallist. The short track speed skater set an Olympic record in his quarterfinal heat in the 500m skate earlier this evening, with a time of 40.770.

Hamelin also made it through the semifinal heat, along with teammate Francois-Loius Tremblay. The third Canadian to make it to semifinals, Olivier Jean, was disqualified. The men's finals will be underway at 7:15pm.