The Olympics have long been a cherished, global tradition in which nations show their respect for each other in friendly, but fierce, competition. With some great athletes from nations all across the globe, the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic Games are sure to be exhilarating.

The games will feature more than 80 countries and will begin with the opening ceremony on Feb. 12 at 6 p.m. They will be hosted in Vancouver, Canada, and broadcasted by NBC.

Teams to watch this year include Germany, which dominated the 2006 Winter Olympic Games in Torino, Italy, with 11 gold medals.

The U.S. is also expected to perform well with returning champions such as speed skater Apolo Ohno and snowboarder Shaun White. Austria, Canada, Russia and the Scandinavian countries have also consistently exhibited outstanding Winter Olympic appearances.

The U.S. has a team of 216 athletes, including 87 returning Olympians. With 25 medals, the U.S. came in second place in the total medal count at the Torino Games. Long track speed skater Chad Hedrick and ice hockey players Angela Ruggiero and Jenny Potter are just three of Team USA’s 31 returning medalists.

The Canadian ice hockey team has something of a home-field advantage, the top spot in the International Ice Hockey Federation’s world rankings, and a lot of expectations weighing on its shoulders. Of course, the 2010 Winter Games are loaded with admirable athletes, like Norwegian Alpine Skier Kjetil André Aamodt—returning, amazingly, for his sixth Winter Olympics.

No specifics about the opening ceremonies have been released, but Canada has allocated a $20 million budget for it alone. David Atkins, the executive producer of this year’s Olympics, plans to “deliver spectacular, truly Canadian Ceremonies in 2010China’s ceremony in Beijing, an epic five-hour display, will loom in the background.The mascots for the 2010 Winter Olympic Games are all based on creatures from Canadian Aboriginal myths. Miga, a small sea bear (half orca and half bear), snowboards while Quatchi, a Sasquatch, is a hockey goalie. Sumi, the Paralympics mascot, is a mixture of the mythical thunderbird and a black bear. Mukmuk, an unofficial but highly popular mascot, is a marmot.

The first event, a ski-jumping qualification round, will be at 10 a.m. before the opening ceremony. Medal events begin on Feb. 13.

The sports in this year’s Winter Olympic Games are Alpine Skiing, the Biathlon, Bobsled, Cross-Country, Curling, Figure Skating, Freestyle Skiing, Hockey, Luge, Nordic Combined, Short Track, Skeleton, Ski Jumping, Snowboarding and Speed Skating.

Two weeks of strong and thrilling competition will follow the opening ceremony, and they will end with the closing ceremony on Feb. 28 at 6 p.m.