Vancouver/Whistler 2010: Drunkest Olympics Ever

From Time Magainze

“The city of Vancouver, and the ski village of Whistler, are terrific hosts for these Olympic Games. In Vancouver, the air is clean, the public transit is scarily efficient, and the harbors, with the snow-capped mountains in the backdrop, are picturesque. Whistler, two hours to the north and home of the skiing, sliding, and Nordic events, is a winter wonderland,” writes Sean Gregory. “But let’s face it: if public intoxication was an Olympic sport, Vancouver and Whistler would own the podium.”

“Throughout the Olympics, drunken revelers have overrun the streets of Vancouver. Local hospitals are reporting spikes in emergency room visits for alcohol-related sicknesses and injuries; most of the intoxicated patients are males between the ages of 15 and 24. In Whistler, the partiers have turned what should be a cozy village into rows of frat houses in need of soundproofing,” he says.

All the yelling and screaming and woo-wooing gets grating. These are the fourth Olympics I’ve covered, and Vancouver drinks Athens, Torino and Beijing under the table. I asked a few Olympic journalists who have covered more Games than I have to rate Vancouver on the intoxication scale. Vahe Gregorian of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, who has covered eight Olympics, dating back to Atlanta in 1996, agreed with my chart-topping assessment. In reference to downtown Vancouver’s main strip of nightclubs, he said: “Granville Street itself is unlike anything I’ve seen at an Olympics.” And he noted that all the drinking in Vancouver has led to a lot of public urinating. “I’ve personally witnessed about 8-10 guys whizzing at once along a fence a half a block off the main street,” he said. “It’s like the infield at the Kentucky Derby.”

Way to go Canada!