Supporters of Vancouver's 2010 Olympic bid exploded in joy when it was announced the city would host the Games, but the reaction in Toronto was bittersweet.

More than 17,000 people filed into Vancouver's GM Place to hear the announcement, some lining up since 3 a.m.




The excitement increased just after 10:30 a.m. ET when International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge announced that Salzburg, Austria, had been eliminated from the competition after the first ballot.

The crowd, nearly silent seconds before the announcement, erupted in cheers when Rogge announced the winner in Prague, Czech Republic.

Athletes hugged each other and many were crying.

Similar, if smaller, scenes played out across the country and around the world as Canadians huddled around radios and televisions to hear the news.

Many fans were shocked that Vancouver won the bid by only three votes, but Anne Villeneuve, dressed in Canadian hockey gear, didn't seem to care.

"I would say thank God for those three people. They are my favourite people in the entire world right now. And I don't care who they are. I love them," she said.

Some began to immediately look ahead to Canada's first Olympics in 22 years.

Olympic rower Silken Laumann said the winning bid puts sports back on the political priority list, which could mean more funding for athletes.

"I think it would be embarrassing not to do well in 2010, and that is sometimes a great motivator," she said.

However, the millions of dollars that will be spent on holding an Olympic Games in Vancouver was a sore point for some.

An anti-poverty group has started building a tent city in downtown Vancouver as a visual reminder to the government to remember social programs in its spending.

Toronto deputy mayor promises Games in the future

Emotions were mixed in Toronto following the announcement. The city has lost two bids to host the Summer Olympics and now it seems unlikely it will any time soon.

Some people involved in the Toronto bid for the 2008 Summer Games gathered in a downtown bar to watch the announcement. They offered polite applause when Vancouver's winning bid was announced.

"Oh, it's very mixed," said Phyllis Berck, who was on the Toronto 2008 bid committee.

"I'm very proud of Canada for winning this. I know exactly how my colleagues in Vancouver were feeling after all the work they did," she said.

"But I'm disappointed it's not Toronto," said Berck.

Toronto officials were prepared to launch a bid for the 2012 Summer Games if Vancouver had lost.

Ontario Premier Ernie Eves said there's no point in Toronto trying now.

"Obviously, I don't think it's too likely the IOC is going to award back-to-back Games to the same country," he said.

But the city's deputy mayor, Case Ootes, said Toronto hasn't given up on the Olympic dream, and promised that the city will put together another bid sometime in the future.