The Closing Ceremony for the Vancouver Olympics took place on February 28th, 2010, but only now can those Games be officially declared over.
The Vancouver Operating Committee (VANOC) has published its final report on the finances and operations of the 2010 Winter Olympics, showing that they broke even on the operating budget of CAD 1.9 billion (approximately USD $1.8 billion).
The report stated that the Canadian federal government, the British Columbia government and the International Olympic Committee all assisted in covering the tab. Contributions from ticket sales and licensing and merchandising also helped put the Vancouver Olympics in the black.
The CEO of VANOC, John Furlong, told CBC News:We made commitments in the name of the country, we made commitments to the IOC and we made commitments to the Canadian public that we would deliver the Games in the black and so we set out to do that.
I look at our situation and think we are a very good model of how to do these events. This is, to me, very good for the Canada brand of being reliable, being trustworthy, keeping your promises, being on time and on budget, being responsible about the things that really matter to the public.
In other Vancouver legacy news, the full-size costumes of the mascots Quatchi, Miga and Sumi have been removed from display at the Museum of Vancouver, reports The Province. Fans off the cuddly sasquatch, sea bear and animal guardian spirit will not be able to see the set at Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame, either, as the costumes are also in storage there. A third set of costumes is at the IOC in Switzerland.
Maureen Douglas, who headed the mascot program during the Vancouver Olympics, said that most of the mascot costumes didn’t survive past the Games.
Spokespeople for both the Museum of Vancouver and Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame said the mascots would return to display in the future.