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Over 3.5 million pairs of Red Mittens purchased in support of Canadian winter athletes

Vancouver, BC ― The Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (VANOC) today thanked Canadians and all fans who showed their support for the Canadian athletes and the 2010 Games by purchasing a pair of Red Mittens. Over 3.5 million pairs of mittens were sold during the five-month campaign and the mittens quickly became one of the most enduring and popular items of the pre-Games and Games-time period. The full inventory of Red Mittens has now been sold.

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VANCOUVER (Reuters) - Any city that puts red woolen Olympic mittens on statues of local heroes is likely to be a loving one.

Vancouver did not deceive on that front, giving athletes and visitors to the Winter Games a welcome as warm as a striped Hudson's Bay blanket on a snowy night.

The people were unfailingly polite, and yet funny and laid back -- whether they were bus drivers, a homeless man in the park or acclaimed Canadian actor Donald Sutherland.

Vancouver, BC ― People wishing for an up close look at the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Legacy Cauldron will now be able to take photos of this unique and symbolic structure from a nearby rooftop affording an unobstructed view of the cauldron in its waterfront location. In addition, to better afford street level photos while maintaining the necessary security perimeter of the Main Media Center, the safety fence in front of the cauldron has been moved forward so that viewers can stand closer to the cauldron. The fencing includes a viewing window stretching 30 metres at an average eye level height.

The rooftop viewing area opens today and is free to the public. It is located atop a one-storey building at 1055 Canada Place, adjacent to Jack Poole Plaza where the steel and glass cauldron is set against the backdrop of the North Shore Mountains and Burrard Inlet. The rooftop viewing area also offers sightlines to Vancouver’s famous Stanley Park and the floating Olympic Rings on the water.

VANCOUVER (AP) -- Various groups from an impoverished section of downtown joined forces Friday morning and caused the Olympic torch relay to change course twice, a small but satisfying victory for protest organizers.

"Community 1, Torch 0!" Lauren Gill of the Homes Not Games faction hollered into a megaphone following the first detour, drawing cheers from dozens of protesters scurrying to get to the second site.