A British Columbia woman is the first person to own tickets to a Vancouver 2010 Olympic Games event after she won two seats to the world figure skating finals through the B.C. Lottery Corporation.
Karen Anderlini of Aldergrove, who calls herself an ice skating 'super fan,' received the instant win game ticket as a gift from a friend, and was soon surprised to learn she was the winning ticket holder.
"It's really neat to be the first in the world with tickets. I'm a big fan and it's a huge win," she said.
Last year, Richmond resident Gwen Blair won tickets to the 2010 Games opening ceremonies through an Olympic scratch-and-win ticket.
Tickets for Olympic events will not go on sale until Oct. 3rd, eight days ahead of the original schedule, the Vancouver Olympic Committee announced last week, making Anderlini the only ticketholder to an event.
Former ice skating world champion and three-time Olympian Victor Kraatz presented the tickets to Anderlini in a press conference on Tuesday.
"Figure skating enjoys a special place in the hearts of Canadians and our Olympians will be looking to put on a great show on home ice," he said.
The SportsFunder Gold Medal Figure Skating Instant Win game is offering 20 pairs of gold medal tickets with $1,000 spending money, and top cash prizes of $50,000.
Proceeds from the sale of the lottery tickets goes toward amateur sports in B.C., including KidSport, Team BC, Youth Sport Travel Assistance, and Coach and Leadership Development.
With a report from CTV British Columbia's Mike Killeen
