FACTBOX-Olympics-The 2010 Vancouver Winter Games

Jan 12 (Reuters) - The march to the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver entered its final month on Tuesday. Here are some facts about the Games that start on Canada's Pacific coast on Feb 12:

A LONG MARCH

* Vancouver was awarded the Winter Games by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in 2003 with its "Sea to Sky" bid beating proposals from Pyeongchang, South Korea, and Salzburg, Austria. It is the third Canadian city to host an Olympics.

* Sporting competitions will be held in Vancouver, two of its suburbs and in the mountain resort community of Whistler, about 125 km away. There are nine competition venues hosting 15 sports disciplines and two athletes' villages.

* Some 5,000 athletes and officials, 10,000 members of the media and tens of thousands of visitors are expected to descend on Vancouver and Whistler.

THE COST

* The Vancouver Games have an operating budget of C$1.75 billion Canadian dollars ($1.43 billion). The figure does not include the C$900 million security budget, being funded mostly by the Canadian federal government.

* Venue construction cost was C$580 million, paid for by the Canadian federal and British Columbia provincial governments. Other Canadian provinces and local communities have also provided funding to the Games.

* British Columbia's auditor general estimated in 2006 the real cost to taxpayers at C$2.5 billion because of related infrastructure projects.

OLYMPIC FIRSTS

* Each medal has a slightly different design, with images showing parts of a larger picture of modern Canadian aboriginal art.

* Ski-cross competition has been added as an Olympic sport for the 2010 Games. The made-for-television freestyle event involves four competitors racing down a slope shoulder to shoulder over man-made jumps and through sharp turns.

* Opening and closing ceremonies will be held at BC Place Stadium, which will seat about 55,000 spectators. It will be the first time that an opening ceremony for a Winter Games is held inside a domed facility.

* Canada is the only country to stage a Summer (1976 Montreal) and Winter (1988 Calgary) Games and not win a gold medal at either edition.

(Reporting by Allan Dowd; Editing by Nick Mulvenney

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