Announced today: Vancouver has won the bid for the 2010 Olympics. WOOOOHOOOOO!!!

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Some details on the Vancouver Olympic bid (courtesy of The Seattle Times):

Total budget: About $2 billion; $1.4 billion in Olympic capital/operating funds, $600 million in federal/provincial infrastructure improvements that would be made with or without Olympics. The Games are expected to produce a small profit, to be put in trust to run facilities. The provincial government is on the hook for any shortfalls. (All figures in Canadian dollars.)

Existing venues: B.C. Place Stadium (opening, closing and medals ceremonies), GM Place (hockey), renovated Pacific Coliseum (figure skating, short-track speedskating), Whistler Mountain (downhill, Super-Gsuper-giant slalom), Blackcomb Mountain (slaloms and all technical ski events), Cypress Bowl ski area (freestyle skiing/snowboarding).

Proposed venues: Expanded Vancouver Trade and Convention Center ($500 million expansion; would be used as Main Media Center; not part of Olympic budget); bobsled/luge complex, Blackcomb Mountain ($52.8. million); speedskating oval, Simon Fraser University ($57. million); secondary hockey arena, University of British Columbia ($28.8. million); curling rink, Hillcrest Park, near Nat Bailey Stadium ($24 million); cross country/biathlon/ski jump facility and athletes’ village, Callaghan Valley ($102 million); Vancouver Athletes’ Village, False Creek waterfront; housing built with mix of private/public funds.

Transportation: Vancouver is a congested metro area but has a healthy, integrated bus/ferry/sky train public-transportation network. An existing plan to extend the sky train south to the airport and Richmond likely would be accelerated by the Olympics. Highway 99, the Sea to Sky Highway from Vancouver to Whistler, would receive some $600 million in improvements. The often treacherous, 60-mile corridor would be widened to at least three lanes in most places. Spectators would be moved to Whistler by bus or via ferry to Squamish, then bus to Whistler.