Vancouver hits the button on 2010 Games countdown

Canadians put aside the doom and gloom of a global economic crisis to celebrate the one-year countdown to the 2010 Winter Olympics yesterday, inviting the world to Vancouver next February.

There was a noticeable buzz in the Olympic city as Vancouverites were hit with the reality that the Winter Games they had dreamt of for nearly a decade are now just months away.

For most Canadians, particularly those in the country's western most province, the 2010 Olympics had become little more than a steady stream of grim headlines due to surging costs.

But as the clock ticked down to 364 days, it was time to think about the medals to be won and not how much they will cost.

IOC president Jacques Rogge, speaking from a podium at the Richmond speed skating oval that is due to become the Olympics signature venue, extended the official invitation calling on athletes to assemble in Vancouver.

"Today we are dispatching the invitations to the 21st Olympic Winter Games, the countdown is beginning," Rogge told an invitation-only audience.

In a much less formal manner, Canadians from Newfoundland to Victoria extended their own invitations with a series of celebrations to mark the milestone.

On Parliament Hill in Ottawa, the Peace Tower bells rang as the Olympic flag was raised. The day began with the unveiling of the Olympic torch at the Olympic resort under a light snow.

The sleek aluminium and white stainless steel torch, branded with the 2010 Games Inukshuk logo and a red maple leaf, was designed to invoke images of the lines carved into the snow by skiers and will be the closest connection most Canadians will have to the Olympics.

The torch will begin its journey on Oct. 30 at Mile Zero of the Trans-Canada Highway on Victoria Island and work its way north to Alert on Ellesmere Island, the world's northernmost settlement, before twisting its way back to Vancouver on Feb. 12 for the Winter Games' first ever indoor opening ceremonies.