The international media and Olympic visitors noticed the Downtown Eastside.
So did the five-time Olympian who carried Canada’s flag in the opening ceremony.
Winnipeg’s Clara Hughes won bronze in 5,000-metre speedskating on Wednesday at the Richmond Olympic Oval and donated her $10,000 bonus to the Take A Hike Foundation. The charity runs outdoor recreation programs for inner-city youths.
"I took a wrong turn and ended up in the Downtown Eastside in my little car. I will never forget seeing people suffer so much,” Hughes said in a Canadian Olympic Committee news conference.
"People were just shells of themselves and I couldn't believe the situation, this reality, exists in Canada. It was surreal, I felt like I was in a movie set."
Hughes said she can leave Vancouver knowing that she “didn’t just come here and skate in circles.”
