Vancouver 2010 unveiled a countdown clock Monday, three years before the Opening Ceremonies of the 2010 Winter Olympic Games, as protesters hurled projectiles including eggs, paint-filled balloons and paper mache balls filled with rocks.
The clock was unveiled at a ceremony at the Vancouver Art Gallery where British Columbia’s Premier Gordon Campbell said, “this clock that we unveiled today will remind us not just of the years, the months, and the weeks until we actually light that torch, but it will remind us of how incredibly intense this competition is”.
The illuminated clock weighs 1,170 kilograms and measures six metres high by three metres wide and is the latest creation from Omega, Official Timekeeper of the 2010 Games.
According to Vancouver 2010 the clock design was inspired by both the natural and urban surroundings of Vancouver, bringing together both man-made and indigenous natural materials. It rests on cast concrete blocks and is constructed of cedar, glass and stainless steel, showcasing two electronic clocks. One marks the countdown to the start of the 2010 Games on February 12, 2010 while the other displays the countdown to the beginning of the Paralympic Winter Games on March 12, 2010.
Guests at the unveiling included Four Host First Nations Secretariat representative Tewanee Joseph, Minister of International Trade and Minister of the Pacific Gateway and the Vancouver-Whistler Olympics, David Emerson, British Columbia Premier Gordon Campbell, Vancouver Mayor Sam Sullivan, VANOC CEO John Furlong, VANOC Chairman Jack Poole, Paralympic medallist Lauren Woolstencroft and Olympic medallist Jeff Pain.
Meanwhile police dragged a protester off the stage and officers tackled a woman with a bandanna over her face during the ceremony.
The Associated Press reports that despite heavy security at the downtown event with dozens of officers in yellow jackets, including some on horseback and in riot gear, one protester managed to leap onto the stage and push the master of ceremonies out of the way. He shouted obscenities into the microphone before being dragged off by officers.
A Vancouver police inspector said people who disrupted the ceremony by throwing the projectiles are violent hooligans. Inspector Steve Schnitzer refused to call them protesters, saying people who wear balaclavas push by police officers, and jump fencing to rush a stage, aren’t participating in a legitimate protest. He added that 60 people took part in the melee and belong to a group called the Anti-Poverty Committee. Seven people were arrested and police anticipate four criminal charges will be laid.
