In 2010, the world's best winter athletes will converge on Vancouver. In July of 2003, the International Olympic Committee voted to award the Winter Olympics to Vancouver-Whistler, which beat out competing pitches from Pyeongchang, South Korea and Salzburg, Austria. The victory will make Canada a three-time Olympics host, first in Montreal and most recently in Calgary.

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In May of 2003, Mike Weir became the first Canadian to win a major event on the PGA Tour when he captured the Masters, golf's most prestigious event. The win made Weir a household name in North America. The Bright's Grove, Ont., native made the cover of every major newspaper and magazine. Prime Minister Jean Chretien called to congratulate him. He dropped a ceremonial puck before a Leafs game at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto. He even made David Letterman's Top-10 list.

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In October, the hockey community grieved the loss of promising young NHLer Dan Snyder. A member of the Atlanta Trashers, Snyder died after sustaining critical injuries in a car crash. Snyder's teammate, and close friend, Dany Heatley was driving the car. Heatley, an emerging superstar, suffered a serious knee injury in the accident and isn't expected to play again until late in the season – if at all. Heatley has a dark legal cloud over his head: Police charged him with vehicular homicide, which, if he’s found guilty, could net him a prison sentence of up to 15 years.

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Like golfer Mike Weir, Montreal's Eric Gagne also made news in a sport traditionally dominated by Americans. In 2003, the 27-year-old Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher established a benchmark of consistency for baseball closers. Gagne converted a Major League Baseball record 55 consecutive saves last season. The feat made Gagne the obvious choice for the National League Cy Young award, only the second Canadian to win it. Ferguson Jenkins of Chatham, Ont., was the only other Canadian be named the best pitcher in the league. He won the Cy Young in 1971 with the Chicago Cubs.

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Nearly two years after she competed at Salt Lake City, Canada's Beckie Scott was awarded a cross-county Olympic gold medal. The native of Vermillion, Alta., initially won bronze, becoming the first North American woman to win a cross-country Olympic medal. That medal was upgraded to a silver in October and to a gold in December after it was ruled that the two skiers finishing ahead of her had tested positive for drugs. The decision to give Scott the gold also set a precedent that athletes can be held accountable, and possibly stripped of their medals, long after the event.

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In August, Perdita Felicien stole headlines at the world track and field championships in Paris by winning the 100-metre hurdles. Felicien's trip to the top of the podium was a first --no other Canadian woman has ever won gold at the world championships. Not surprisingly, the victory thrust Felicien into the spotlight. Reporters are calling her night and day, she was given the key to the city in her hometown of Pickering Ont., and signed sponsorship deals with Nike and Cheerios. And the attention will only intensify over the next year. Felicien is considered one of Canada's best hopes for a medal at the Summer Olympics in Athens in 2004.

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In August, Eugene Melnyk's purchase of the Ottawa Senators became official, ending a saga that dominated the hockey headlines for months. The Sens were thrown into crisis in December when then-owner Rod Bryden's deal to refinance the franchise fell through. The team didn't have the money to pay its bills and players. In January, the Senators filed for bankruptcy. Bryden made a last-ditch effort to by the club, but that also fell through and Melnyk, a biotech billionaire from Toronto, stepped in. With the sale, the Senators went from being debt-ridden and cash-strapped to having one of the most financially stable owners in the NHL.

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The crazy ownership shuffle in the CFL dominated football news in the summer of 2003. Within a four-week span, the league took over control of the Toronto Argos and the Hamilton Tiger-Cats after both clubs announced they were several million dollars in debt. After months of exhaustive searching, commissioner Tom Wright unveiled computer billionaire and hometown boy Bob Young as the new owner of the Ticats in October. A month later the CFL announced the sale of the Argos to real estate builder Howard Sokolowski and businessman David Cynamon. Both moves met with acclaim from critics of the venerable franchises.

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In October, in his 13th season, Paul Tracy finally won CART's overall title. The Toronto native took the championship in dominating fashion, winning seven of 18 races and leading nearly twice as many laps as the next driver. Tracy outdistanced his closest challenger for the title, Bruno Junqueira of Brazil, by 27 points. It's been a decade since CART had a champion as old as Tracy (34), but his seven wins tie him with racing legend Rick Mears for third in CART's all-time wins list.

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In November, more than 50,000 fans braved frigid temperatures to watch the Edmonton Oilers and the Montreal Canadiens face off on a outdoor rink set up in the middle of Edmonton's Commonwealth Stadium. Before he NHLers took to the ice, fans were treated to a game between the Wayne Gretzky-led Oilers old-timers and the Guy Lafleur-led Canadiens old-timers. The CBC broadcast set a record for a regular-season Hockey Night in Canada game, and was so successful that other NHL teams are considering holding their own outdoor games.

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