Vancouver Olympic countdown clock stops running
28/11/2008 16:50
The countdown clock for the 2010 Winter Olympics stopped running
yesterday, but officials say no vandalism was taking place.
Olympic officials
were notified early yesterday morning that the six-meter digital clock had
stopped running, its normally luminescent face turned blank.
It appears the
problem originated with faulty wiring.
"It doesn't appear to be vandalism, so
we're grateful for that, " says Renee Smith-Valade, a spokesperson for the
Vancouver Olympic Organizing Committee.
She said a maintenance crew is
working to reset the piece. The clock counting down to the Paralympic Games is
still working.
The darkened clock face drew crowds outside of Vancouver's Art
Gallery, where visitors took pictures beside the stopped timepiece.
"I'm
looking at it and it looks sad really," a visitor said, "I guess we're not going
to have the Olympics anymore. I'd say get it back running and we can get back on
track for the Olympics."
The official Omega Olympic countdown clock was
unveiled among protests at a three-year countdown celebration for the 2010 Games
in February 2007.
The clock, which measures 20-feet high and weighs 1,170
kilograms, counts down the remaining days, hours, minutes and seconds to the
Opening Ceremonies of the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games.
It was
built by EEC Industries of North Vancouver, B.C., with three massive columns of
steel, Plexiglas and red cedar.
The 2010 Olympic Games take place in
Vancouver and Whistler from February 12 to 28, 2010. Vancouver and Whistler will
host the Paralympic Winter Games from March 12 to 21, 2010.
Xinhua
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