Olympic legacy for Canada’s native tribes

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Four of Canada’s ‘First Nations’ – the Lil’wat, Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh – together with the Vancouver Olympic Committee officially hosted the Vancouver 2010 Winter Games which finished on Sunday. The World’s Andrea Crossan reports on the Olympic legacy for the four native tribes. Download MP3

• Video: Inuit throat singers in Vancouver
• Aboriginal Canadians divided over Vancouver Olympics

Olympic luger dies after crash

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The death of a luge competitor who left the track at high speed has cast a shadow over the Winter Olympics in Canada ahead of the opening ceremony. Georgian Nodar Kumaritashvili’s sled flipped and he smashed into a steel pole at the Whistler Sliding Centre. The World’s Katy Clark has been following events. Download MP3 (Photo: Peter Parks/AFP/Getty Images)

• BBC coverage of the Vancouver Olympics
• Vancouver 2010 homepage

Preview of Winter Olympics

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Canada becomes the center of the sporting world tonight with the opening of the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. The World’s Katy Clark offers a preview of the Games, which run through February 28. Download MP3

• BBC coverage of the Vancouver Olympics
• Winter Olympics photo gallery
• Vancouver 2010 homepage
• On The World: The Numbers Behind the Olympics

Selling Olympic flowers

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When the Olympic winners take the podium over the next two weeks, they won’t just get a medal. They’ll also get a flower bouquet. All those bouquets had to come from somewhere, of course, and it turned out to be “Just Beginnings Flowers” owned by June Strandberg (pictured). The World’s Jason Margolis visited the little flower shop that could in the Vancouver suburb of Surrey. Download MP3 (Photo: Jason Margolis)

• Photo of the Olympic florists
• The Numbers Behind the Olympics: Jason’s Vancouver coverage
• Global Economy podcast
• Just Beginnings flower shop

Swedish skiers try to gain high-tech edge

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The Swedish cross-country team has gotten some high-tech training help from the country’s Winter Sports Research Center. They’ve been training on a high-tech treadmill designed to realistically recreate the course they’ll be skiing during the Winter Games in Canada. Programming that treadmill required some sophisticated GPS measurements (pictured), as The World’s Clark Boyd explains. Download MP3 (Photo: Matej Supej)

• Video: The Swedish high-tech skiing treadmill (via Swedish TV)
• More pictures from the global positioning work in Whistler

The Costs of the Winter Olympics and Toyota

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It took seven years of planning, construction, hassle and heartache. Finally, the party is about to begin. Starting February 12th, British Columbia will host the Winter Olympics for 17 days. (And the Paralympics to follow.) Canadian taxpayers are on hook for CDN $6 billion, by some estimates. What did British Columbia get for all that money? Was it all worth it?

Also on this edition of the podcast, news about Toyota and Moscow McDonald’s turns 20. (Photo credit: © VANOC/COVAN)

Olympic Buzz

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The Olympics are just nine days away. It took seven years of planning and preparation to get ready for 17 days in February, then the Paralympics to follow. But people involved with the Games are hoping the Olympic glow will last a lot longer than just a few weeks. Their rosiest projection: A flawless Games will bring in an extra 4 million visitors to British Columbia over the span of two decades. Jason Margolis has more. Download MP3 (Photo credit: © VANOC/COVAN)

• Vancouver coverage by The World’s Jason Margolis
• Vancouver 2010 homepage
• Global Economy podcast

The Numbers Behind the Olympics

When all is said and done, preparing for the Winter Olympics in Vancouver and Whistler will have cost close to CDN $6 billion. (About $5.6 billion in U.S. dollars.) And that’s just the price tag to get everything built, before the Games begin. The World’s Jason Margolis visits British Columbia to look at how the Winter Games have economically impacted the Canadian province.

• BBC coverage of the Vancouver Olympics
• Vancouver 2010 homepage
• Global Economy podcast
• British Columbia Chamber of Commerce