The clock started ticking on Sept. 17, 2010, when Prince George won the bid over Kelowna and Kamloops to host the 2015 Canada Winter Games.
For 17 days from Feb. 13-March 1, the eyes of the nation were watching Prince George host a sporting event the likes of which the city had never seen. Nineteen different sports scheduled over two weeks brought thousands of athletes, coaches, trainers managers, family members, and sports fans from all over the country to celebrate the best of what we had to offer in sports, arts, music and culture.
And what a party it was.
It didn't matter what event was featured - artistic gymnastics, trampoline, squash, badminton, ringette, table tennis, short track speed skating - the quality of competition was unprecedented in city history and athletes dazzled spectators with top-notch entertainment.
The organizing committee somehow managed to put it all together thanks in a large degree to the small army of volunteers, cloaked in green jackets, who gave up their time and helped make the Games a success, which they did.
A crowd of about 5,000 packed into CN Centre for the opening ceremonies to watch the Games cauldron lit together by speed skater Morgan Aucoin, a member of the athletes advisory committee for the Games, and Games organizing committee chair Anthony Everett.
The Games began after weeks of unseasonably warm winter weather and the first wave of athletes arrived in the city for the opening ceremonies in spring-like conditions - a welcome break for Nunavut athletes, who left behind bone-chilling -60 C cold in their home territory.
Thirteen-year-old freestyle skier Elena Gaskell of Vernon won the first gold medal of the Games in female slopestyle at Tabor Mountain and Teal Harle of Whistler climbed to the top of the podium in the male slopestyle. Both repeated as champions the next day in big air.
There was just enough snow at Tabor Mountain for freestyle skiing events, the slopes of Purden Mountain were well-covered for the alpine ski races and the biathlon trails at Otway were in great shape for Week 1 of the Games.
But the rain and warm conditions did take a toll on the ice. A day after long track speed skaters raved about the pristine ice for their races on the first day of competition at the Exhibition Park oval, the ice failed to freeze overnight where tape had been used to divide the lanes and the track was declared unfit for racing. That forced organizers to move the long track events to the indoor oval in Fort St. John and athletes and officials had to be flown there to continue their races.
Carolina Hiller, 17, took advantage of the indoor track to win three silver medals, finishing second in the women's 1,000m, team pursuit, and mass start race. She was fifth in the 500m and 1,500m finals. Her brother Nico was fourth in the team pursuit, sixth in the 3,000m and seventh in the 1,500m.
"Coming into the competition I had no pressure at all because I didn't know what to expect, I'm just slowly getting into long track now and I've just been trying to improve my technique the last couple months," said Hiller.
"In short track you can kind of get away with not having the best technique because it's more strategy, whereas in long track everyone can see your flaws and your technique has to be perfect to skate your best. Now, with three silvers, it's really starting to pay off. Seeing how well it's turned out for me, it couldn't have been a better choice."
At Otway, it didn't take long for 17-year-old Burns Lake native Emily Dickson to rise to the top. A day after she won silver in the 7.5-kilometre sprint, Dickson became the first gold medalist from northern B.C. when she won the pursuit.
But for sheer excitement, nothing could top the 3 X 6km female relay. The B.C. team included Tekara Banser and alternate Jennah Smailes, both of Kelowna, and Caledonia Nordic Ski Club racers Dickson and Claire Lapointe of Prince George.
In the three-skier relay, Banser dropped to last place when she missed two targets but Lapointe, who finished fifth in the pursuit, shot clean in both bouts and used her knowledge of her home trails to pick off skiers from Quebec and Alberta.
By the time she tagged her teammate Dickson, B.C. had a 16-second lead. Dickson, was the fastest skier in the relay and she also shot clean to give B.C. the win, two minutes ahead of second-place Quebec.
"It's awesome to be able to share this with my team - every one of these girls put in a solid result and to have them take home a gold medal, I'm just happy I could help them earn it," said Dickson, who also won bronze in the individual race. "I never had any doubts, I knew they could execute it. I just had to hold the lead."
Arthur Roots of Prince George, 19, just missed a biathlon medal when he finished fourth in the 10km sprint and was fifth in the pursuit.
In team sports, Sydney Irving of Prince George helped B.C. finish sixth in ringette, while Avril Harris, an able-bodied athlete in wheelchair basketball, was part of the B.C. squad with local Joel Ewert, which finished seventh.
Female hockey was featured in the first week and despite their dominance in the B.C. Female Triple-A Hockey League as the first-place team and eventual provincial champions, none of the Prince George-based Northern Cougars were picked for the B.C. under-18 team. B.C. finished a disappointing sixth. Quebec won gold with a 2-1 overtime win over Ontario.
In Week 2, local snowboarders Meryeta O'Dine and Evan Bichon had their day in the spotlight at Purden. Both Prince George athletes won gold in snowboard cross.
"I was last going into the first berm and there was a pass on every berm and on the last section of the course I held a good line and I managed to come out with it," said O'Dine. "I was extremely nervous today, but I'm so excited about how it all turned out."
Bichon said it helped racing at home.
"I just felt really good out there today, I was really strong through two practice runs and I qualified first," said Bichon. "I led the final during the whole race and I had a huge lead at the end.
"The crowd was ecstatic, I usually can't hear it but the crowd was on another level today," he said. "I had so many friends and family here."
Thirteen-year-old Prince George figure skater Justin Hampole rose to the occasion on the Canada Games stage at Lakewood Dental Arena (Kin 1), winning a bronze medal in the pre-novice boys competition.
He held his nerves in check and totalled 91.88 points, shattering his own personal best of 82.54.
"I went to see a sports psychologist who said having nerves before you perform is good, it means you care. So I guess I cared a lot," said Hampole.
"I think what helped was not having expectations about placements, just keep my focus on my routine," he said. "The cheering was so loud - that really fuelled my performance."
In judo, Lavanna Laass of Prince George made it all the way to the gold-medal match in the women's under-63 kg class but lost to Hana Varfsanyi of Alberta, who choked Laass unconscious. Laass and Prince George judokas Grace Northrup (under-52 kg) and Kristen Yawney (under-70 kg) finished fourth in the women's team event, losing the bronze medal event 3-2 to Ontario.
Bruce Kamstra of Prince George was head coach of the B.C. team which ended up with eight medals - four silver and flour bronze.
In men's hockey, the U-16 B.C. team, featuring Justin Almeida and Dorin Luding of Prince George, failed to advance to the medal round, but Team Manitoba, which included defenceman and team captain Max Martin, who won the bronze medal game 5-2 over Quebec.
Prince George Cougars prospect Logan Mazerolle had to settle for silver after his Alberta team lost in the final 3-1 to Ontario.
The Games ended with the closing ceremonies at the UNBC campus, with Governor General David Johnston on hand to declare the Canada Winter Games officially over.
