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A lot of the events for the 2010 Games will be held in preexisting buildings, for sustainability and to keep things under budget, but the Vancouver Organizing Committee (VANOC) did splurge on one venue: the Richmond Skating Oval.
It's in the town of Richmond, about 20 minutes outside of Vancouver, and it gives the Utah Olympic Oval in Kearns a run for its money.
The Richmond Olympic Oval is described as a piece of public art. It cost $179 million and is the crown jewel of the 2010 Games.
John Mills, of the Richmond Olympic Oval, said the oval is "something that has lasting impact for the city and makes a bold statement about the city and B.C. and Canada during the Games."
The ice is fast. Three different cooling systems are used to control the temperature. Mills said, "It's good, but it's not as fast as Salt Lake."
"That's largely due to the elevation," he explained. "We're at sea level, of course, so the air is thicker, denser."
"Eighty percent of the resistance in speed skating is the air, and only 20 percent the ice. So, the thin air makes a difference," he added.
"It's very unlikely we'll have any world records. But we're competitive, and we think the athletes will be pleased with the quality of ice," he said.
The Olympics weren't the first priority for this building. It was actually sketched as a community center first, and then modified to host speed skating events. That's because when the Games are over, this building will be the main community recreation center.
"We'll have a couple of hockey rinks, basketball courts, and so on," Mills said. "We'll have the capacity to return to a speed skating oval from time to time, but we'll be a multi-use facility," he explained.
One community member, Wagner Rulli, said, "It's definitely a benefit to this area."
The building is already open to residents, and they get to watch the Canadian team practice
"When you see the athletes, they're practicing and speed skating and working out. It's inspiring," Rulli said.
If you look up, you'll be inspired, too. The building includes more than a million board feet of pine beetle wood. Pine beetle has infested many of Canada's forests, but if salvaged quickly, it's still good. All the wood inside the facility would have just rotted in the forest.
Mills said, "This is a very green building."
Rain water collected on the seven-acre roof drains down the side of the building, where it will flow into a retention pond that's not quite finished. Then it will be used in the sanitation system.
Most people who use the building don't know that. They just know they like what they see.
Wagner Rulli said, "You feel alive when you're here."
The Canadian athletes hope to have a cutting edge by being able to practice in the Richmond Oval, along with all the other venues. No Canadian has ever won a gold medal in a Canadian-hosted Olympics.
