2010 Olympics countdown festivity greeted with celebration and protest

A day of celebration of the one-year countdown to the 2010 Winter Olympics wrapped up Thursday with criticism of an invitation-only party in Richmond, as well as a noisy protest in downtown Vancouver.

About 150 people held an evening rally in Victory Square and lit a Canadian Olympics flag on fire to mark their own countdown. They then marched in parts of the downtown core to protest and bring attention toissues such as homelessness, aboriginal rights and thehefty security costof the Games.

There's also a report that the countdown clock in downtown Vancouver has been splashed with paint.

'I invite them to participate in the 21st Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver one year from now.' Jacques Rogge, IOC president

About 1,100 guests packed the Richmond Oval, the site for speedskating events, to celebrate the official countdown to 2010. Among them were athletes, former Olympians, Olympic executives from around the world as well as politicians.Musical performances entertained the spectators, and cheers erupted in the 30-second countdown to 6 p.m. PT the official one-year mark to the Games.

In a message broadcast across the globe, International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge invited athletes from all nations to take part in the Vancouver Games.

"For athletes around the world, the chance to compete next year in Vancouver will be their goal, the culmination of a lifetime's ambition," Rogge told a jubilant crowd.

"I wish them all good luck, and on behalf of the International Olympic Committee, I invite them to participate in the 21st Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver one year from now."

A morning celebration was held in Whistler and was open to the public. The evening party in Richmond was by invitation only,though theRichmond Oval has a capacity of 8,000 spectators.

Provincial Opposition Leader Carole James of the NDP criticized the Liberals' arrangement to exclude the public from rejoicing at the event.

"You certainly would think if taxpayers are funding something, that it would be open to the public, that they would have an opportunity to be able to participate, to be involved," James said.

"You don't build support for the Olympics by shutting the public out, by not being upfront with them about the real costs of the Olympics," she said.

The cost of theRichmond party was estimated at about half a million dollars. And Olympic organizers said the Richmond party was invitation-only for security reasons.

B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell said it was only one of many around the province.

"Everyone is forgetting about the hundred celebrations that are taking place. It's one event that we're doing to try and manage it properly for television and make sure we have the proper security for the Olympics," Campbell said.

Festivities in other provinces

The next 12 months will stretch on like a child waiting for Christmas morning, said John Furlong, the chief executive officer of the Vancouver organizing committee, known as VANOC.

"There's a lot of positive anxiety," Furlong said Thursday morning in Whistler. "We have a big year ahead. It's like a dog year. It's going to feel longer. It's a year where we get to perfect our craft."

The ceremony in Whistler was a jam-packed affair where both the Olympic torch and the torch-bearer uniforms were unveiled to mark the one-year countdown.

Earlier in the day in Ottawa, Prime Minister Stephen Harper was joined by former athletes on Parliament Hill to unveil the Olympic flag marking the one-year countdown.

In Fredericton, elementary children sang O Canada and shook noisemakers at city hall while Gov. Gen. Michalle Jean hosted an event at Rideau Hall in Ottawa. In Toronto, hundreds braved rain and brisk winds to celebrate the countdown at Nathan Philips Square.