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The Olympic flag is carried by a group of prominent Canadians during the opening ceremony for the Vancouver 2010 Olympics in Vancouver, British Columbia on Friday. Image Credit: AP

Vancouver: Several thousand protesters on Friday staged an anti-Olympics rally then marched to the stadium where the opening ceremony was being held.

Hundreds of police were there waiting for them, halting their progress across the street from BC Place.

The standoff lasted more than two hours, with some sticks, barricades and water bottles being thrown toward the officers.

The only response from police was some shoving to move the protesters a few feet farther back.

Alissa Westergard-Thorpe of the organising group, the Olympic Resistance Network, said the day's events were successful because "we certainly disrupted the imagery" of the games.