Team by team, the world's top winter athletes are arriving in Vancouver with the start of the Olympics now down to a count on one hand.

Vancouver's airport has resembled a carnival in recent days, with competitors from such countries as Russia, China, France, Britain and, of course, Canada, dressed in their colourful team uniforms pushing carts piled high with their personal luggage to waiting buses that whisk them away to the athletes village downtown.

The airport arrivals area is the red carpet of sorts for the athletes, the stars of the show, whose arrival finally puts into action an event organizers have been preparing for more than a decade.

Volunteers and Olympic organizing staff dressed in bright blue jackets block off doorways at the airport, aiming to keep the general public from mixing with medal-focused athletes.

Security guards in bright yellow vests block the luggage carousel areas from the public. One guard originally from the Philippines could be heard singing O Canada while athletes from other countries loaded their luggage onto oversized carts.

"I am Canadian now," he said clutching his two-way radio. "Besides, there aren't many winter sports where I come from."

The efforts at sequestering the athletes prove fruitless though when oversized Olympic mascots Quatchi and Miga arrive to pose for pictures, bringing the tourists and the athletes together for one shot.

Eventually, the volunteers and airport staff pull out their own cameras to capture the moment as well.

Welcome to Vancouver, the largest city ever to play host to a Winter Olympics, and possibly the warmest. The constant rain and warm temperatures are also a hot topic going into this event.

"It's not ideal," Andy Hunt, the chef de mission for Britain, said in an interview while waiting for some team members in the arrivals level at Vancouver International Airport. "But winter sports are like that. You never really know what the weather will be like for sure."

Eating a banana while waiting for his bus to arrive, Slovakian cross-country skier Michal Malak, 29, said he's not too concerned about the unseasonably warm weather he's heard so much about.

"It's better than too cold ... at least there will be man-made snow if necessary," he said.

As he chews, the Chinese short-track skating team passes by in bright yellow-coloured uniforms, emblazoned with the McDonald's logo, pushing their luggage before boarding the bus.

Earlier in the day, the Japanese team, dressed in beige suit jackets and black pants, stop, wave and give short interviews to the orderly huddle of Japanese media held back behind a barrier at the international arrivals area.

While some athletes are arriving from their home countries, many have been away for several weeks, training and competing in cities such as Calgary, Lake Placid and Salt Lake City (former Olympic venues) before arriving in Vancouver.

Officials with the organizing committee say athletes have been arriving steadily since last week. About 20 per cent landed last Thursday, with another 10 per cent expected to arrive each day until this Thursday, the day before the opening ceremonies.

The Olympic villages are expected to operate at about 90-per-cent capacity between Feb. 11 and 14.

A majority of the athletes are expected to leave March 1, the day after the closing ceremonies.

Canada's women's hockey team arrived late yesterday, greeted by screaming fans including a girls hockey team called the Vancouver Angels.

The girls, ranging in ages from about five to 19, wore their team jerseys - which resembled those of team Canada - waved flags and held a handmade sign reading "Go Canada Go."

Team members signed autographs and posed for pictures with fans of all ages, men and women.

"Being here in Canada is very special," said forward Jayna Hefford in an interview. "Whether it is the Olympics or not, we are expected to win gold. If that is the pressure here, we are ready for it."

Team captain Hayley Wickenheiser said while there will be a lot of distractions around being the home team "we are here for a job ... but also plan on enjoying it along the way."

As the team entered the main arrivals area fans broke out signing the national anthem and waving Canadian flags.

About a dozen members from Canada's short-track speed-skating team arrived late yesterday afternoon from Calgary and quickly gathered to be formally introduced to media at a local boathouse in nearby Richmond, B.C. - dubbed Speed Skating Canada House for the Games.

"I know deep down that we are ready," said short-track team leader Yves Hamelin to light applause from the small crowd.

Jean Dupre, director general of Speed Skating Canada, was more up front, vowing the team would "kick butt" in the weeks ahead.