Since we announced we were moving into the Olympic Village, a lot of people have asked me “do you know which athlete lived in your unit during the Olympics?” I sure do. Sexy German speed skater Anni Friesinger was the former occupant of our suite.

How do I know? I did some sleuthing and discovered that 122 Walter Hardwick was occupied by Team Germany during the Olympics. Most of the German medal winners were staying up at Whistler, but the hockey team, speed skaters, figure skaters, and curlers were all in Vancouver.

Now, I have no proof that Anni stayed in our unit, but until I find a name scratched into the wall or a stray hair that I can analyze for DNA, I’m going to just assume our unit was occupied by either Anni Friesinger or Andy Kapp, skip of the German curling team.

Photo by ygx

In all seriousness, I’m a bit surprised that more isn’t done to advertise the Olympic Village as the former home of Olympians. The two towers that were once full of Canadian athletes is now branded Canada House, but otherwise there aren’t any references left to the athletes who once resided in the units. Maybe it’s a privacy issue.

If anyone is trying to determine which athletes may have lived in a specific Olympic Village building, I’ve created this handy guide.

Step 1: Find a picture of your building from February 2010. Luckily, Olympians are a patriotic bunch and like to hang flags from their balconies. I put the best pictures on Flickr in a convenient gallery. Use the picture to identify which country was staying on your building.

From the photos I found, these are my best guesses:

151 and 181 Athletes Way (Canada House) – Team Canada
1616 Columbia Street (Bridge) – Team Australia, Team Finland, Team Netherlands
160 Athletes Way – Team France
Walter Hardwick across from co-op (Bridge) – Team Ukraine
128, and 138 Athletes Way (Ocean Towers) – Team Norway
118 Athletes Way (Ocean Towers) – Team Austria
1625 Manitoba Street (Ocean Towers) – Team Great Britain
77 Water Hardwick Avenue (Kayak) – Team U.S.A.
1633 Ontario Street (Kayak) – Team China
181 West 1st Avenue – Team Switzerland and Team Japan
151 West 1st Avenue (Athletes Village Housing Co-op) – Czech Team and Team Belarus
122 Walter Hardwick (Rental) – Team Germany
123 West 1st Avenue – Team Italy
80 Walter Hardwick (Rental) – Team Sweden
80 Walter Hardwick (Facing 1st avenue) – Team South Korea and Team Slovenia
1661 Ontario Street – Team Russia

Step 2: Choose an athlete from that country who was competing in an event held in Vancouver (most alpine athletes were in Whistler). List of Olympic Teams.

Step 3: Tell everyone that you are now living in the suite once occupied by the Olympian of your choice (Anni Friesinger is already taken). They might even believe you.