They should've said "merci" to you for the tickets

It was the last event of the 2010 Winter Olympics and the 129 tickets bought by the British Columbia government weren't cheap. The province spent $775 for each taxpayer-funded ticket to the closing, except for those lucky to be inside the host province's luxury suite at B.C. Place Stadium. Their tickets, also taxpayer-bought, were $1,560 each.

So who used those free tickets? See the list below, from the Integrated Hosting and Ticketing report, published May 6.

Olympians:
Darcy Marquardt, Mike Lewis, Richard Hortness, Bruce Deacon, Jay Morrison, Scott Patterson, Veronica Brenner, Brian Price, Pamela Rai.

Relatives of 2010 athletes:
Carol Morrison, Char Agosta, Charlie Loo, Dennis Morrison, Jerry Rush and guest, Joel Parrott, Julie Morrison, Nino Agosta, Toni Loo, Clifton Brown and guest, Brent McIvor and guest, Oakley Semple and guest, Rod White and guest, Glenn Parrott, Roc Spence and guest.

Potential Olympians and Paralympians:
Aleisha Cline, Bob Ursel, Dan Raymond, Diane Gushulak, Grace Machines, Jacalyn Brown, Jessica Hewitt, Jim Cotter, Katie Tsuyuki, Marla Mallett, Rick Sawatsky, Sylvia Kerfoot, Tom Velisek, Tyler Mosher, Warren Tanner, Christa Guloien, Kevin Folk, Nick Brush, Andrea Dziewior, Brent Pierce, Chris Wong, Dominique Vallee, Ellie Terwiel, Jacquie Armstrong, Karolina Wisniewska, Kelly VanderBeek and guest, Kevin Recksiedler, Mark Olson, Matthew Hallat, Mira Leung, Morgan Perrin, Sean Geall, Annamay Pierse, Danielle Wotherspoon, Darryl Neighbour, Gina Grain, Jacqueline Roy, Josh Dueck, Kat Gillis, Katie Baker, Thea Culley, Tyla Flexman, Alex Orlando.

Contest winners:
ActNow BC: Lee Shanks and guest; Right To Play winner (name not given) and guest.

B.C. Sports Hall of Fame inductees Gerry Sorensen Lenihan, Silken Laumann and two family members.

B.C. Olympic curling medalists:
Diane Dezura, Georgina Wheatcroft, Julie Skinner, Sandra Jenkins.

Businesspeople:
China Eastern Airlines vice-president Jiang Bo Liu and guest; VanEdge Capital partner Glenn Entis and guest, Paul Lee and guest, Robin Louis and guest; Vancouver Art Gallery director Kathleen Bartels and guest, assistant director Paul Larocque and guest.

Consul Generals:
Italy, Francesco De Conno and guest; France, Marie De Lattre and guest; China, Ma Shu Liang and Shugen Liang; India, S.K. Makhijani and guest; South Korea, Tong Mo Suh and guest; Germany, Klaus Achenbach and guest; United States Phillip Chicola and Victoria Chicola; Britain, Alex Budden and Dianne Budden.

Holders of $1,560 apiece luxury suite tickets:
Ambassador of France, Francois-Marie Delattre and guest; Consul Gen. of Mexico Angel Villalobos-Rodriguez and guest; B.C. Speaker of the House Bill Barisoff and guest; Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty and guest; Manitoba Premier Greg Selinger; RCMP Dep. Comm. Gary Bass and guest, and seat reserved for security (no name).