The 2010 Winter Olympics, officially the XXI Olympic Winter Games or the 21st Winter Olympics, were a major international multi-sport event held from February 12–28, 2010, in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, with some events held in the suburbs of Richmond, West Vancouver and the University Endowment Lands, and in the resort town of Whistler. Approximately 2,600 athletes from 82 nations participated in 86 events in fifteen disciplines. Both the Olympic and Paralympic Games were being organized by the Vancouver Organizing Committee (VANOC). The 2010 Winter Olympics were the third Olympics hosted by Canada and the first by the province of British Columbia. Previously, Canada hosted the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, Quebec and the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary, Alberta.

Following Olympic tradition, then-Vancouver mayor Sam Sullivan received the Olympic flag during the closing ceremony of the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy. The flag was raised on February 28, 2006 in a special ceremony and was on display at Vancouver City Hall until the Olympic opening ceremony. The event was officially opened by Governor General Michaëlle Jean.

The Winter Olympic Games is a sporting event, which occurs every four years. The first celebration of the Winter Olympics was held in Chamonix, France, in 1924. The original sports were alpine and cross-country skiing, figure skating, ice hockey, Nordic combined, ski jumping and speed skating. The Games were held every four years from 1924 until 1936 when they were interrupted by World War II. The Olympics resumed in 1948 and were celebrated every four years. The Winter and Summer Olympic Games were held in the same years until 1992, when the governing body for the Olympic Games, the International Olympic Committee (IOC), decided to place the Summer and Winter Games on separate four-year cycles in alternating even-numbered years.

The Winter Games have evolved since their inception. Sports have been added and some of them, such as luge, short track speed skating and freestyle skiing, have earned a permanent spot on the Olympic programme. Others, such as speed skiing, bandy and skijoring, were demonstration sports but never incorporated as Olympic sports. The rise of television as a global medium for communication enhanced the profile of the Games. It created an income stream, via the sale of broadcast rights and advertising, which has become lucrative for the IOC. This allowed outside interests, such as television companies and corporate sponsors, to exert influence. The IOC has had to address several criticisms, internal scandals, the use of performance enhancing drugs by Winter Olympians, as well as a political boycott of the Winter Olympics. Nations have used the Winter Games to showcase the claimed superiority of their political systems.

The winter of 2009–2010 in Europe was unusually cold. Globally, atypical weather patterns brought cold, moist air from the north. Weather systems were undergoing cyclogenesis from North American storms moving across the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and saw many parts of Europe experiencing heavy snowfall and record-low temperatures. This led to a number of deaths, widespread transport disruption, power failures and the postponement of a number of sporting events.

The cold weather was caused by high pressure over Greenland and Iceland causing weather patterns to be forced southward, a phenonoma described by meteorologits as the Arctic oscillation and also the North Atlantic Oscillation.

Light snowfall occurred in the U.K. on 16 December and weather warnings were given on most local TV stations; there were some traffic jams towards the south. The snow later spread towards France and northern Spain. In mainland Europe, early snowfall was seen across much of the western half of the continent. On 17 December, the Swiss canton of Grisons saw a record-low overnight temperature of −32°C (−25.6°F). This snowfall led to the shutdown of Utrecht Centraal (the largest rail hub in the Netherlands). While snowfall on highways led to the busiest morning rush hour of 2009, with a total of 671 km (417 m) in traffic jams. The following day, heavy overnight snowfall caused widespread disruption across large parts of the South East, East Anglia, the East Midlands and Yorkshire and the Humber in Britain. This snow was in the north half of a depression with east winds centered south of England. Several deaths attributed to the cold weather were reported.

Tessa Virtue (born May 17, 1989) is a Canadian ice dancer who competes with Scott Moir. Virtue and Moir are the 2010 Olympic champions, the 2010 & 2012 World Champions, the 2008 & 2012 Four Continents Champions, the 2006 World Junior Champions and four-time (2008–2010, 2012) Canadian national champions.

At the 2009 Skate Canada competition, they became the first ice dance team to ever receive a 10.0 component score mark under the ISU Judging System. They have received more scores of 10.00s than any other figure skating or dance team under the ISU Judging System.^{[citation needed]} They are the current world record score holders for the original dance.

Virtue was born in London, Ontario, Canada. She is the youngest of four children.

She attended Holy Names High School in Windsor, in addition to an electronic learning school called "AMDEC" based in Stratford, Ontario. Virtue is currently studying for a degree in psychology at the University of Windsor, commuting across the border from Michigan.

Scott Moir (born September 2, 1987) is a Canadian ice dancer. He ice dances with Tessa Virtue. Moir and Virtue are the 2010 Olympic champions, the 2010 and 2012 World Champions, the 2008 & 2012 Four Continents Champions, the 2006 World Junior Champions and four-time (2008–2010, 2012) Canadian national champions.

They were the first ice dance team to receive a 10.0 for a program component score under the new ISU Judging System. They are the current world record score holders for the original dance.

Moir was born in London, Ontario, Canada and raised in Ilderton, Ontario. He attended Medway High School (Arva, Ontario), in addition to an electronic learning highschool called AMDEC. He currently lives and trains in Canton, Michigan, USA. Moir comes from a skating family. He is the younger brother of Danny Moir and Charlie Moir. His cousins Sheri Moir and Cara Moir competed at the 2007 World Synchronized Skating Championships for Canada's Nexxice team. His mother is a coach.

In October 2010, Moir, Virtue and co-writer Steve Milton published a book about their career called Tessa And Scott: Our Journey From Childhood Dream To Gold .