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Athletes from all over the world came to Vancouver, Canada this year to show their talents, hoping to fulfill their dreams of winning an Olympic medal.

The 2010 Winter Olympics started Feb. 12 and will be held until Feb. 28. Unfortunately, before the opening ceremony on Friday, there was a fatal crash in the warm-ups of the Luge.

A 21 year old luge athlete from Georgia (KoDar Kumaritashvili) was killed in a crash coming out of one of the turns. Even after the crash, fellow Lugers had a hard time keeping their sleds in control. A few had even crashed in practice, just not as badly and some have questioned if the track is safe.

The worldwide sports contest began with the opening ceremony on Friday and the lighting of the Olympic torch. The torch was lit at the BC Place stadium, will be carried 45 thousand kilometers and will be passed though over 1,000 communities.

During the Olympics there are hundreds of events in which athletes compete. In Vancouver, audiences will be able to catch world-class athletes at their best. The Whistler Mountain will hold alpine skiing, cross country skiing and ski jumping. Cypress Mountain features freestyle skiing and snowboarding, which is one of the most popular Winter Olympic sports. For the more indoor sports, Vancouver has arenas that are being used for hockey, bobsledding, luge, curling and ice-skating.

Just two days into the Olympics, USA leads in total medals with one gold, two silver, and three bronze medals. The USA is followed closely by Germany that has succeeded in gaining four total medals, then France with three, Canada with three, and Korea with two.

USA's Hannah Kearney won the first gold medal for team USA with her outstanding performance in womens freestyle skiing. She completed her run with a great score of 26.63. Team USA's two silver medals were in Nordic combined,USA's first medal in this event, and the other in short track; men's 1500m. The three bronze medals were in freestyle skiing and one in mens 1500m short track. This has made a statement for the rest of the Olympics: that team USA has set their focus on being the best in the world. By leading the race for medals, the USA team hopes they can carry this lead and fulfill their desire to be great.