The Torino Winter Games have come and gone and now it’s Vancouver’s turn to bask in the Olympic spotlight.

The countdown to the Vancouver Winter Games officially got underway Tuesday when Mayor Sam Sullivan raised the Olympic flag during a ceremony at Vancouver City Hall.

The flag will stay at city hall until the Games begin in February of 2010.

“So now the world’s eyes are on Vancouver,” said John Furlong, the head of the Vancouver’s Olympic organizing committee.

“And as we look up at this flag – as it looks down on our city – we will be reminded of the responsibility we have taken on. We will be reminded of the promises that we’ve made to stage truly great Games for the world.”

The Olympic flag has been passed from host city to host city since the 1952 Winter Games in Oslo. But that flag that was raised on Tuesday isn’t the same one Sullivan took from International Olympic Committee chief Jacques Rogge and proudly waved from his custom wheelchair during the closing ceremony.

There are three Olympic flags and the one flying on the lawn of city hall is bigger than the ceremonial flag.

A tired-looking Sullivan arrived in British Columbia with the flags on Monday. He said being at the Olympics was like nothing he’s ever experienced before. He also admitted there were some anxious moments in the hours before the closing ceremony.

“I never had a billion people watch me do anything, and I also realized that I had to think what this was all about,” Sullivan said.

“It was all about the athletes. It was about people striving to be their best.”

Canadian athletes combined to win 24 medals at the Torino Games – Canada’s best-ever medal haul.

Canada’s previous best total was 17 medals. That plateau was reached in 2002 at the Salt Lake City Games.

Canadian Olympic officials are hoping to do even better at the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver. The goal is to win 35 medals and finish atop the medal standings.

Source: CBC Sports