2010 Winter Olympics for the 2000 Summer Olympics by two votes. Vancouver's victory came almost two years after Toronto's 2008 Summer Olympic bid was defeated by Beijing in a landslide vote. The Vancouver Olympic Committee (VANOC) spent C$16.6 million on upgrading facilities at Cypress Mountain, which hosted the freestyle (aerials, moguls, ski cross) and snowboarding events. With the opening in February 2009 of the C$40 million Vancouver Olympic/Paralympic Centre at Hillcrest Park, which hosted curling, every sports venue for the 2010 Games was completed on time and at least one year prior to the Games. In 2004, the operational cost of the 2010
Independent Paralympians at the Paralympic Games during ceremonies for those who win gold medals. Independent Paralympians at the Paralympic Games Athletes have competed as Independent Paralympians at the Paralympic Games for various reasons, including political transition, international sanctions, suspensions of National Paralympic Committees and compassion. Independent Paralympic Participants at the Summer Paralympics was the name given to athletes from the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia at the 1992 Summer Paralympics in Barcelona. Athletes from the parts of Yugoslavia still terming themselves "Yugoslavia" had competed as "Independent Olympic Participants" at the 1992 Summer Olympics, also hosted by Barcelona. They were not permitted to participate as "Yugoslavia", due to