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2010 Winter Games One-year Anniversary

The Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games produced two important legacies for the City of Vancouver Archives. One is its documentary legacy of archival records donated to the Archives. The other is the City's ability to preserve born-digital records.

Digital records from the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (VANOC) are the first deposit in what will become the Archives' repository for digital records that provide documentation of Vancouver's rich history, governance and cultural activities. Since most organizations, including the City of Vancouver, create the majority of their records in digital systems, this program is absolutely necessary to fulfilling the Archives' mission to acquire, organize and preserve Vancouver's historical records and make them available to the widest possible audience.

The Archives is currently processing the VANOC records (and other Games-related records) and we expect most of them to be available in 2012. These records include over 200 boxes of documents, drawings, maps and plans as well as nearly 25 terabytes of audio, video, photographs, data, plans and documents. While these records will not be accessible until processing is complete in 2012, to celebrate the one-year anniversary of the Games, the Archives is showcasing the following as a sample of the digital video content the VANOC records include.


Watch WMV Watch OGG (5:24) Olympic Medal Concept, Design and Making Interviews with the designers, Corrine Hunt and Omer Arbel, and with representatives from the Royal Canadian Mint, about the concept, design and making of the medals. This clip is from a DVD called "The Making of the Vancouver 2010 Medals". The Archives has inherited materials in many formats that document the making of the medals, including but not limited to original sketches, prototypes, and interactions between all involved parties.	Watch WMV Watch OGG (4:18) Medal designers Corrine Hunt and Omer Arbel are interviewed about the 2009 passing of VANOC's lead designer, Leo Obstbaum. This interview is a file from one of VANOC's shared drive workspaces. After Leo's death, VANOC staff put together a tribute (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-JFboOsB3Q "Remembering Leo Obstbaum"). The Archives is now the custodian for much of Leo's work as well as the documents that VANOC staff chose for display at an event honouring Leo and his work (http://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=3Z8uoG057Co "Goodbye Leo Obstbaum")	Watch WMV Watch OGG (2:00) Dedicated to All Kids & Critters with a Dream This is a mascot video in an early design stage. There is no sound and it alternates between full animation and animated pencil sketches of the now-familiar mascots. The video was on a VANOC shared drive workspace filed amongst other development files leading to the launch of the mascots. The Archives of the 2010 Winter Games includes many records documenting the creation of the mascots.


Watch WMV Watch OGG (5:05) A Fab Shop The RONA Vancouver 2010 Fabrication Shop was a sustainable social initiative that taught carpentry skills and provided work experience for people who have had difficulty entering the workforce. Trainees selected from among Aboriginal peoples, inner-city residents, youth at risk, women at risk and new immigrants, produced hardware and props used during the Games (eg. medal pedestals).	Watch WMV Watch OGG (4:09) Olympic Truce - excerpt from Vancouver 2010 - Olympic Truce Northern Outreach Project Videos This excerpt features John Furlong, members of the Canadian Armed Forces, and the mascots distributing "Olympic Spirit Boxes" containing sporting goods to Northern Canadian communities.	Watch WMV Watch OGG (1:38) Paralympic Video Excerpt This is from the DVD "Vancouver 2010 Paralympic Video".

Watch WMV Watch OGG (1:31) Torch Relay: Whistler – Feb 5 The Olympic flame arrives in Whistler. The final torch bearer, Tyler Allison, brings the torch to the stage and lights the Olympic cauldron.	Watch WMV Watch OGG (2:37) Torch Relay: Randy Ferguson – Langley Township – Day 102 – February 8 VANOC MC Randy Ferguson describes the legend of the Olympic flame to a crowd awaiting the torch in Langley.	Watch WMV Watch OGG (6:47) Torch Relay: North Vancouver – Day 104 – February 10 VANOC MC Randy Ferguson introduces the band August as part of the ceremony welcoming the torch to North Vancouver. They perform two songs: “Pull Up Your Socks (Do What you Can For Your Fellow Man)” and “Light The Torch”. The VANOC collection contains many videos like this one that feature the MC and local entertainers preparing enthusiastic crowds for torch lighting.

Watch WMV Watch OGG (2:36) Torch Relay: Torch Lighting In Victoria In Victoria, Michael Chambers, then-President of the Canadian Olympic Committee, introduces gold medalists Catriona Le May Doan and Simon Whitfield to light the torch from the Olympic cauldron. John Furlong sends the torch on its journey to Vancouver. Dean Fortin (Mayor of Victoria), Stephen Harper and Gordon Campbell join them on stage.	Watch WMV Watch OGG (1:23) Torch Relay: Victoria – PM VANOC MC Randy Ferguson addresses the Victoria audience as the attendants capture the flame from the cauldron for its evening rest.	Watch WMV Watch OGG (2:20) Paralympic Torch Relay – Victoria – One Week Before Lighting The Flame in Vancouver for the Paralympic Games Swimmer Stephanie Dixon, the final torch bearer to bring the flame to Victoria, lights the cauldron and talks to the audience about her experience and the importance of the Paralympic Games. John Furlong and Dean Fortin (Mayor of Victoria) are also on stage.