Vancouver was an Olympic-sized party
By Michal Tellos
News Editor
March 10, 2010
 UWindsor professor Scott Martyn has been around the Olympic block.
Martyn, an Olympic historian and author, just recently attended his ninth Olympic Games in Vancouver, and he saw things that he’s never seen.
He said that the Games were largely a hybrid of winter and summer games.
“The closest analogies that I can make are Lillehammer, in terms of winter games, and probably Sydney, in terms of summer games. In both parts, it was that festive atmosphere, that environment that engulfed the community as a whole,” he said.
Martyn noted that what made this atmosphere possible was largely the weather. Despite his transportation being 1.7 km away, when he exited the Richmond Olympic Oval, he walked the distance in a short-sleeved golf shirt.
This warm weather allowed passionate people from all over the world flood the streets at all times of the day and night.
“Celebrations were spontaneous in the streets. And normally at winter games that doesn’t happen because it’s indoors. But there, you could show up downtown at 10 a.m., 10 p.m., or even at 2 a.m., and there were thousands of people celebrating in the streets,” said Martyn, adding that people weren’t even just celebrating athletic victories, but rather the Olympic atmosphere itself.
Martyn was also shocked by the expression of national pride that he witnessed.
“These games set themselves aside because I’ve not seen at any point of time in the Canadian context, nor have I really seen it in other games, that expression of national identity and pride really come out. And I first saw that when I went to the opening game of the Canadian women’s hockey team, which ended up in an 18-0 route. To walk into a venue – which was Canada Hockey Place – and to see literally a sea of red and white,” he said.
“I’ve not seen that. I was at the games in Atlanta and Los Angeles in ‘84, where usually you do see the red, white, and blue imagery right out there,” he added.
Martyn explained that it seemed as if Canadians, normally seen as demure, were finally given the permission they have been waiting for to express their patriotism to the world, to a degree that he has never seen.
Furthermore, despite overwhelming Canadian pride, Martyn also noted the respect for opposing teams. In the women’s hockey game he attended against Slovakia, Canadian fans cheered the Slovakians loudly at the end of the game, despite them being annihilated.
While the spontaneous celebrations were largely peaceful, Martyn said that a very small minority of people got out of control, committing some illegal activity such as drinking open alcohol in the streets.
Martyn also noted the positive aspects of the protests that took place during the Olympics.
“Here what the police did was stand back, and they tended to just let the protest occur, but at the same time they controlled the convergence of protesters, so they made sure that it didn’t develop into an en masse protest,” he said, adding that protests should always occur at Olympic Games because they are part of the Olympic movement.
According to an article in the National Post near the end of the Games, the partying was not limited to spectators.
The article stated that 100,000 condoms were handed out to the approximately 7,000 athletes and officials, only to experience a shortage by the second Wednesday of the Games. The Canadian Foundation for AIDS Research then sent an emergency shipment of 8,500 condoms.
Martyn noted that while sexual activity between athletes is a part of the Games, the figure is misleading, because many individuals who are from countries with lower standards of living than Canada took bagfuls of condoms to bring back home with them.
One problem with the Vancouver Games that Martyn experienced, which he said is common, was transportation.
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