2010 Winter Olympics: The 10 Best Moments From Vancouver

It was an Olympic games dominated by North American neighbors the United States of America and Canada.

The United States set a Winter Olympic record by collecting 37 medals. Their neighbors and rivals to the north, the Canadians, broke a Winter Olympic record of their own by amassing 14 gold medals.

Therefore, it should not surprise anyone that the Top 10 Moments From Vancouver are dominated by border rivals the United States and Canada.

In an Olympic Games that featured unimaginable tragedy and some bumps along the way, it was the wonderful moments that shined above the rest. Here are the 10 best of those wonderful moments.

#10 Canada Wins Men's Curling Gold

Canada's 43 year old skip Kevin Martin is one of the greatest to ever play the game. Entering the 2010 Olympic Games, he had won nearly every prize in curling save one, Olympic gold.

That all changed when he and teammates John Morris, Marc Kennedy, Ben Hebert, and Adam Enright defeated Norway in the gold medal game. As the game was wrapping up and it became clear that Canada would be the victor, the home crowd serenaded the team with a rousing version of O Canada in one of the game's strongest displays of love of country.

#9 The United States Wins Their First Bobsled Gold Since 1948

Led by Steven Holcomb, the United States collected its first bobsled gold in 62 years. Piloting his Night Train sled, deemed by many to be the world's fastest, the United States won the event with a total time of 3:24.46.

Just a couple years after nearly retiring from the sport due to a degenerative eye disease, Holcomb dominated the competition from start to finish with the help of teammates Steve Mesler, Curtis Tomasevicz, and Justin Olsen.

#8 The Closing Ceremonies

After some unfortunate mishaps at the Opening Ceremonies, the city of Vancouver needed the closing ceremonies to go off without a hitch. Lucky for them it did.

The Closing Ceremony was a fun and exciting celebration of the Olympic spirit. The city of Vancouver and those who worked to make the Games a success should be proud of the job they did to make the games an overwhelming triumph after a rocky start.

#7 Apolo Ohno Becomes the USA's Most Decorated Winter Olympic Athlete

Coming into the 2010 Olympic Games, speedskater Apolo Ohno was the winner of five Olympic medals, trailing Bonnie Blair by just one for the most all time by an athlete from the United States.

In Vancouver, Ohno won a silver and two bronze medals, giving him a total of eight, and making him one of the greatest American Olympic Athletes of all time.

#6 Lindsey Vonn Wins Gold in the Ladies Downhill

Before things got underway in Vancouver, American skier Lindsey Vonn was one of the most talked about athletes at the Games. When she announced just days before the Games that a shin injury may prevent her from competing, her story quickly became the most talked about story in Vancouver.

With the help of the weather in Whistler, B.C., not only did Vonn recover in time to compete, she won gold in women's Downhill. Her tearful reaction to winning gold is one of the Games most lasting moments.

#5 Shaun White Wins His Second Straight Gold in the Men's Halfpipe

Shaun White, one of the most recognizable and well liked athletes at the Games, once again proved that he is the king of the snowboard halfpipe world by repeating as Olympic champion in Vancouver.

With the gold medal already wrapped up after his first run, White went all out in his second run anyway and pulled his signature trick, the Double McTwist 1260 to please his fans.

#4 Evan Lysacek Triumphs Over Evengi Plushenko

American Evan Lysacek took home gold in men's figure skating by outskating living legend Evengi Plushenko. Plushenko was openly unhappy with the result, and brought unfortunate controversy to what was otherwise one of the game's best events.

Perhaps as impressive as his performance on the ice was Lysacek's mature handling of the situation when confronted with Plushenko's thoughts and opinions on the results.

#3 Joannie Rochette Overcomes Tragedy to Win Bronze

Just days after losing her mother, Joannie Rochette took the ice to fulfill her Olympic dream. The result may not have been gold, but the bronze medal Rochette won may have been the most meaningful medal of the 2010 Games.

Later at the Champions Gala, Rochette took the ice again, skating to Celine Dion's Vole in tribute to her mother, who considered Dion to be her favorite artist.

#2 Alexandre Bilodeau Wins One For Canada and Brother Frederic

In their previous two rounds as Olympic host, Canada had failed to win gold. That all changed when freestyle skier Alexandre Bilodeau won the Canadians' first gold in what would become a record breaking performance for the Maple Leafers.

Bilodeau brought pride to the nation of Canada, and dedicated his performance to his older Frederic, who suffers from cerebral palsy and who Alexandre considers to be his idol. The image of Alexandre and Frederic embracing at the bottom of the course is perhaps the best of the 2010 Winter Olympic Games.

#1 Canada 3 USA 2

In what may go down as the greatest moment in Canadian hockey history, the poster boy of the Olympic Games, Sidney Crosby, scored 7:13 into overtime to give the Canadians the gold medal they cared about most.

It was a storybook ending the games for people all over Canada. They triumphed over their rival in the game they consider to be their own, did so on home soil, and broke the record for most gold medals in a single Winter Olympic Games in the process. It was a perfect finish to a near perfect Olympic Games for the Canadians.