1/4/2009 Welcome To Fortress Canada, The millions being spent securing the Vancouver Games could be better used elsewhere in Canada

Without question, a terrorist attack during the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver would be a national tragedy. Nobody wants Vancouver to join the ranks of Munich 1972 or Atlanta 1996 -- Games remembered more for acts of terrorism than for a spirit of internationalism. So it's understandable that officials are so worried about a terrorist attack.

A report by the RCMP's Vancouver 2010 Integrated Security Unit called Canada a 'priority target' because of its co-operation with the United States in Afghanistan and in the war on terrorism. Olympic officials are preparing for a chemical, biological or nuclear attack, and the security budget for the Games could reach $1-billion. That's around twice the amount spent for securing the 2002 Winter Games in Salt Lake City -- which took place less than five months after 9/11 and in the country terrorists call the Great Satan.

Yet the greater risk now is not that terrorists might strike Vancouver, but that officials will over-react to an improbable event. Such a reaction incites irrational fear and wastes taxpayer money -- all while doing little to actually make Olympic attendees safer. Welcome to Fortress Canada.

Vancouver is preparing for the worst. The city will employ a sophisticated detection system -- the same type used around the White House -- that can identify chemical, biological, nuclear and radiological threats.

Never mind that no nuclear terrorist attack has ever occurred, or that only a handful of people have been the victims of chemical or biological terrorist attacks, Vancouver Organizing Committee (VANOC) officials are busily prepping the city for a WMD attack. They would do well to consider the statistics: You are much more likely to die in a car accident, by drowning or by crossing the street than you are to die by any type of terrorism.

In fact, Vancouver is an especially improbable terrorist target. Although Canada has its share of Islamic fundamentalists, its foreign policy is considerably less provocative to would-be terrorists than other countries'. As the political scientist Robert A. Pape has shown, terrorists are primarily motivated not by religious fundamentalism, but by foreign occupation of 'territory that the terrorists consider to be their homeland.' A calculated strategy to encourage military withdrawal, not ideology, best explains terrorism. Employed by al-Qaeda, this very strategy worked against Spain, which withdrew its troops from Iraq after the 2004 Madrid train bombings.

Because it opposed the 2003 invasion of Iraq, Canada is considerably more insulated from terrorism than, say, Australia, which supported the war in Iraq and still has troops there. And as the Toronto 18 trial has revealed, in Canada, homegrown terrorist threats are aspirational rather than operational: wannabe jihadists thinking about their next trip to Tim Hortons, not al-Qaeda professionals planning a sophisticated attack.

In any case, there is little evidence these types of security measures actually protect anyone. Despite the nearly $7-billion the U. S. Transportation Security Administration has spent on airport security, Jeffrey Goldberg detailed in a recent issue of The Atlantic how he was able to enter an airport with a forged boarding pass and smuggle pocketknives, nail clippers and liquids onto airplanes. Even an Osama bin Laden T-shirt failed to arouse suspicion.

Canadian officials seem to be engaging in 'security theatre' -- measures that provide the appearance of security without actually reducing the risk of a terrorist attack. For example, organizers announced the purchase of 1,650 metal detectors for the 2010 Olympics, even though the head of the 2006 Turin Olympics advised Canadian officials to throw them away.

Such elaborate security measures are sold to the government by what the political scientist John Mueller has called the 'terrorism industry,' which has a habit of hyping terrorist threats to drum up business. In October, Acklands-Grainger, the official safety equipment supplier to VANOC, organized a seminar at an RCMP training centre, where it stressed the threat of terrorism and touted its own counterterrorist products as a response.

The reaction to terrorism can sometimes be more harmful than terrorism itself, and responding with fear is exactly what terrorists seek. From a dollar-per-life-saved perspective, the millions spent 'securing' the Vancouver Games could surely have a greater impact elsewhere in Canada.

And with Prime Minister Stephen Harper ordering fiscal belt-tightening throughout the federal government, the amount of taxpayer money wasted on security becomes even more egregious. After the global economic crisis swept through Canada, VANOC board chairman Jack Poole promised to slash every 'unnecessary frill and non-essential component' from the Games' budget. He could start by re-examining the security budget.

The Vancouver Olympics are too important to Canada to be blighted by an over-the-top response to an unlikely threat. With 15 months to go, let's hope sobriety prevails. - Stuart A. Reid is an assistant editor at Foreign Affairs.

1/2/2009 Will wild Vancouver weather disrupt the Winter Olympics?

VANCOURVE - There is more than a year before the next Winter Olympic Games, but questions about host city Vancouver are already hanging in the air.

The Canadian city is currently facing major transportation problems but authorities vow to improve, learning from recent incidents where passengers were stranded for long periods of time

Thousands of airline passengers stranded. Roads impassable because of snow. Power failures by the dozen.

The last two weeks have been a winter nightmare for Vancouver - huge dumps of snow followed by rain, heavy slush and flooding. All over the city, people are griping about the toll storm after storm has taken on their holiday season. They're also asking another question: What if this happens during the 2010 Winter Olympics?

Vancouver airport, transit and city officials say they're using the recent storms as a learning opportunity. With 400,000 passengers passing through Vancouver in the last week on 5,000 flights, the current volume of airport traffic is close to what it will be during the games, said Don Ehrenholz, vice president of operations for Vancouver International Airport. He promises improvement by the time the games start.



Planning for a storm

'In our planning for 2010 we are planning that there will be a snowstorm of a fairly large magnitude at the worst possible time - either at the very first couple of days or the very last day or two, which is one of the more difficult times for getting people out on time,' Ehrenholz said. 'We are definitely planning for those circumstances. We have already ordered a couple of extra pieces of snow-clearing equipment for 2010 and we have already been working with the airlines to improve the deicing process . . . to improve that capacity.'

The city's transit system will be different in 2010, with more buses and a new subway line that won't be affected by weather because most of it runs underground, said Ken Hardie, a spokesman for TransLink, which handles public transit in British Colombia's Lower Mainland. Car-free lanes on venue routes also mean less chance of snow-related traffic congestion.

The SkyTrain elevated rail system has been shut down in conditions far less severe than those in Vancouver the last week, Hardie said.

'I understand that the type of weather that we've had over the past week or so is a one-in-10-year event,' he said. 'Let's hope we've gotten it out of our system for another 10 years.'

Events will be divided between the area in and around Vancouver, which is known more for rain than snow, and the ski resort of Whistler, which usually has plenty of the white stuff each winter. The communities are connected by Highway 99, also known as the Sea-to-Sky highway - a narrow, winding route with plenty of steep hills.

Before the Beijing Olympics last summer, Chinese authorities were so afraid of rain disrupting the opening ceremony they experimented with cloud seeding.

Al Wallace is regional director of Meteorological Services Canada, which is providing weather services for the 2010 Olympics. He said a weather-control project is not in the works for 2010, mostly because it hasn't been proved to actually work.

Vancouver's Olympic organizing committee acknowledges that while it has command over virtually every aspect of the games, the weather is one thing it simply can't control - even if it is one of the most critical elements of staging a successful Winter Olympics.

'It could either work with you or really work against you,' said Tim Gayda, vice president of sport for the organizing committee, known as VANOC. 'Right from the get-go, we've always planned to deal with the worst.'

When the games were awarded to Vancouver in 2003, Environment Canada and Meteorological Services were immediately brought on board. Weather stations have been installed at each venue and along the Sea-to-Sky corridor to help monitor everything from wind speed to moisture.



Keeping records

VANOC and Environment Canada also have been putting together scenarios where they've taken the weather in past Februarys and used it to determine how the games would have been affected if they were held on those days.

In addition to possible delays, the committee found that signage and seating at outdoor venues would be severely challenged by the weight of about 15 inches of snow. Vancouver has had close to 3 feet of snow this month. There are also the challenges of keeping volunteers' morale high when it's cold and wet and mobilizing volunteers in the middle of the night to clear snow from venues.

This winter's test events will provide the final dry (or wet) run for weather issues. All the forecasters who will work at the games will be at the test-event venues assisting judges, coaches and organizers. But planning can go only so far. Gayda said his team has its own approach, on top of meticulous planning.

'We just pray,' he said.

12/21/2008 Program Keeps U.S. Women’s Hockey at Elite Level

BLAINE, Minn. — The turnabout demanded a celebration. With the United States women’s hockey team seconds away from a loss, defender Angela Ruggiero carried the puck across the blue line, cut to the top of the right circle and unloaded a slap slot that zipped just inside the left post for the tying goal.

Three-tenths of a second remained on the clock. Enthusiastic high-fiving and helmet-rubbing greeted Ruggiero, a three-time Olympic medalist, when she returned to the bench.

But this was not a major international women’s game, or even a women’s game at all. It was a playoff semifinal in the Wednesday night men’s A/Elite division of the Minnesota Wild Adult Hockey League at Schwan Super Rink. The opponent was a skilled team called Top Cheese, made up largely of former college players in their 20s and 30s.

“That was a great shot,” said Top Cheese defenseman Ryan Johnson, a real estate agent from nearby Coon Rapids, Minn., who played two seasons at N.C.A.A. Division I St. Cloud State. “Our goalie told us he didn’t know she had it in her. She did.”

Since September, Ruggiero and 15 other Olympic hopefuls have trained in the Blaine Residency Program, based at Schwan, a sprawling eight-rink complex built on farmland 20 miles north of Minneapolis. USA Hockey, the sport’s national governing body, established and subsidized the program to help postcollegiate women prepare for the 2010 Vancouver Olympics.

The 41-game schedule for the American women in the Blaine program, which began in September and ends in mid-March, includes varied opponents: women’s college and semiprofessional, boys high school and Junior A, and adult men in the Wednesday league. Seven of the Olympic hopefuls also suit up for the Minnesota Whitecaps, the lone United States franchise in the Western Women’s Hockey League, one of Canada’s two elite leagues for women.

“This situation is great for us,” said Ruggiero, who with Jenny Potter is trying to make her fourth Olympic team. “Although half of us had to move here, which is a huge sacrifice in and of itself, the fact that we’re getting to train full time every single day with the best postgraduate women in the U.S.A. is definitely a huge advantage for us.”

Players receive stipends to help with living expenses from USA Hockey and the United States Olympic Committee. Some have part-time jobs; others are continuing their studies. Ruggiero is earning a master’s degree in sports management at the University of Minnesota. Forward Natalie Darwitz, a two-time Olympian, works as an assistant for the Minnesota women’s team.

Tom Osiecki, a longtime Minnesota high school and college coach, serves as the coach. The Olympic coach, however, will be chosen in late January, according to Michele Amidon, the director of women’s hockey operations for USA Hockey. Three candidates are in the running: Harvard Coach Katey Stone, who coached the women’s select team that won the Four Nations Cup; Ohio State Coach Jackie Barto, who directed the national team to a gold medal at the world championship; and Mark Johnson, who has coached Wisconsin to N.C.A.A. championships.

The Blaine program addresses the biggest complaint from players after the United States’ disappointing bronze-medal finish at the 2006 Olympics in Turin, Italy. After elite players left college, they struggled to find ice time and suitable training facilities. Some felt that left the United States team less prepared for international competitions than other countries.

Ruggiero and Darwitz lobbied USA Hockey to establish a residency camp, like the one held in Lake Placid, N.Y., before the 2002 Salt Lake Games.

The value of the Blaine program showed in November in Lake Placid, where the group, augmented with collegians, defeated Finland, Sweden and archrival Canada to win the prestigious Four Nations Cup. In April, the United States defeated Canada twice to win the world championship in China.

“This was the first year, speaking for myself, I went into a tournament confident in my abilities,” Darwitz said of the Four Nations.

Though N.C.A.A. women’s competition is strong at the top levels, postgraduate players faced a stone wall in their development.

“There are options,” Amidon said, “but they’re not the best ones.”

Some, like Molly Engstrom, a University of Wisconsin graduate, joined a Canadian women’s team, but she said she found the competition and intensity lacking. Minnesota residents played for the Whitecaps, and Ruggiero occasionally flew in for games last year. But the Whitecaps offered a limited schedule and rarely practiced. Other players worked out on their own, or played in men’s leagues of varying skill levels.

Now, the women have all the practices and games they can handle.

“I didn’t even realize how bad it was until this year, because I didn’t know about the alternatives here,” said goaltender Megan Van Beusekom, who commutes 90 minutes each way from the 80-acre farm that she and her husband, Eric, recently bought in Cokato, Minn. “Right now, I feel better than I’ve ever felt.”

On the days between games, players spend four hours working out in the morning at the complex’s Herb Brooks Training Center, a mix of on-ice drills, power skating, yoga and weight lifting. (Brooks, the Miracle on Ice coach who grew up in St. Paul, helped raise money to build the complex in the 1990s.) USA Hockey refurbished the team’s dressing room last month, so players no longer have to lug their equipment from home.

“We’re playing 70, 80 games a year, some of us,” Ruggiero said. “The amount of games we’re going to get is making us all better hockey players. We’re getting more games than the college kids. That’s something that will help all postgrad players.”

In making the schedule, Amidon sought opponents who could replicate the speed of a women’s international game. The players said they matched up best with high school boys teams, but Amidon also entered Team USA in Schwan’s toughest men’s league for regular competition.

Body checking is prohibited in the men’s league, as it is in women’s hockey, and players are not allowed to raise their stick higher than waist level when they wind up on slap shots. But many participants are bigger and stronger than the women, something that Engstrom said she found frustrating. Team USA finished 3-6-1 in the five-team league, tying for third place.

Top Cheese won both their regular-season meetings handily. But in the playoffs, the United States women led, 4-2, with four minutes to play. Top Cheese then struck for three goals, the last by Johnson with 13.8 seconds left. “I thought when I scored that, it sealed the deal,” Johnson said.

Not quite, thanks to Ruggiero. Top Cheese went on to win in a shootout, 6-5. Afterward, Johnson praised the skill, energy and smarts the women’s team brought to a league that had grown stale from the same teams playing one another.

“I have some friends who play in the N.H.L., and I kind of have an idea of what it takes for them,” said Johnson, who also coaches an adult women’s team. “I always kind of wondered what women’s hockey was like at that level.

“The first two times we played them it was like 10-3. I don’t know if we let down or they picked their game up. We were sweating bullets.”

12/21/2008 Qualification System for Youth Olympic Games Approved

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has approved the sports competitions programme for the first Summer Youth Olympic Games (YOG) to be held in Singapore in 2010, as well as the qualification system for each event.

Show jumping, the sole discipline representing equestrian sport, will see a total of 30 riders between 17 and 18 years of age competing on borrowed horses at the Singapore Turf Club.

Further details related to Jumping at the YOG will be published early next year – in the interim we welcome any questions you might have, which may be sent to yog@fei.org. Based on these queries and questions we will compile a Frequently Asked Questions section which will be made available on the FEI website in mid-January 2009.

The 2010 Summer Youth Olympic Games will see some 3,594 young athletes compete in the 26 sports represented at the 2012 Olympic Games. The event, tailor-made to young people, aims to balance sport, education and culture over 12 days of competition, workshops and social interaction. The YOG will provide an opportunity to not only bring together the world's best young athletes but will present a superb introduction to the Olympic Games and their values. With the emphasis very strongly on the sharing of cultural experiences in a sporting environment, the YOG are an excellent platform for discovering new cultures and making new friendships.

Additional information on the Youth Olympic Games is available on the IOC website and on the official website of Singapore 2010.

12/13/2008 Innsbruck to host first Winter Youth Games in 2012

LAUSANNE, Switzerland (AP) — The Austrian city of Innsbruck was awarded the inaugural Winter Youth Games in 2012 on Friday, becoming an Olympic host for the third time.

Innsbruck, which staged the 1964 and 1976 Winter Olympics, defeated the Finnish candidate of Kuopio 84-15 in a ballot by International Olympic Committee members.

'This is a good decision in that it was obviously the best bid,' IOC president Jacques Rogge said after announcing the winner. 'Innsbruck has lots of assets — the capacity of the city, the experience of the people. It's an icon of winter sports.'

Another Austria resort, Salzburg, had failed in bids for the 2006 and 2014 Winter Olympics.

'It's something nice for Austria,' Rogge said. 'They bid twice for Salzburg and now they are getting Innsbruck. I think this is good.'

The Youth Games, a 10-day event, will feature about 1,000 athletes aged 14-18 competing in seven sports — skiing, ice hockey, biathlon, bobsled, curling, luge and figure skating.

Innsbruck had been the favorite after receiving the best rating in an IOC evaluation report, which said the Austrian bid offered 'minimal risk' with a budget of $22.5 million.

'This is a great day for Austria and a great day for all winter sports fans,' Austrian Olympic Committee president Leo Wallner said in a statement. 'More importantly, it is a great day for the future generations of young athletes who are dreaming of becoming winter Olympians.'

The evaluation panel raised concerns about Innsbruck's ability to build an athletes' village on time. The city now has a backup plan of renting rooms in local hotels.

Kuopio would have been a first-time Olympic host. Its organizing budget of $13.9 million was judged 'extremely low,' and coupled with limited guarantees from the city and national government, presented 'some risk' to the IOC, the evaluation report said.

The Youth Olympics is a personal project of Rogge, who is seeking to combat youth obesity and encourage young people to participate in sport.

The first Summer Youth Olympics will be held in Singapore in 2010.

Rogge will appoint a coordination commission to work with Innsbruck organizers over the next three years.

'We are very aware that this is a very short period, but we are extremely confident that Innsbruck can match the expectations of both the IOC and the athletes,' Rogge said.

12/13/2008 Olympic construction nears completion as Oval opens

Whistler's new Peak 2 Peak gondola opens with three world records

The public will get a first-hand look inside the Richmond speedskating oval when the mammoth new building is officially opened Friday afternoon, a full 14 months before the 2010 Olympics.

A weekend of opening events is planned, including public skating on the oval that features a panoramic view of the North Shore mountains under the largest freestanding roof in B.C.

With its dramatic architecture, the Oval will likely be remembered as the signature building of the 2010 Games, but experts don't expect to see any sports records broken at the $178-million structure, because it sits at sea level, meaning the ice will be slower than other venues.

After the Games, the Oval, which was built on the banks of the Fraser River by the city of Richmond with funding from VANOC and the federal and provincial governments, will become an multi-sport facility, with two international-size ice rinks, eight gymnasiums, a 200-metre running track and 23,000-square-foot fitness centre.

The opening of the Olympic Oval means only one competition venue for the 2010 Olympic Games has yet to be completed: the curling facility in Queen Elizabeth Park.

Construction continues on the financially troubled Olympic Village in Vancouver, along with other training venues and the athletes' village in Whistler.

Peak-to-peak gondola opens in Whistler

Meanwhile, up in Whistler, there may not be much snow yet this year, but another new attraction is opening on the ski hill that will host the downhill ski events at the 2010 Games.

Known as Peak 2 Peak, the inter-alpine gondola was to open to the public Friday morning, connecting the upper slopes of the Whistler and Blackcomb Mountains.

Built at cost of $50 million and in the works for 10 years, the three-kilometre span between the main towers will be the highest and longest unsupported cable car span in the world.

Two cars will have glass floors, allowing the 28 passengers to look down nearly half a kilometre to Fitzsimmons Creek below.

The 28 cars will carry more than 2,000 people per hour a total distance of 4.4 km between the peak stations on a ride that will last about 11 minutes.

Peak 2 Peak, which was designed and built by a team of Swiss and Austrian specialists, will also put Whistler in the record books for the longest continuous lift system in the world.

12/13/2008 Phase 1 ticket inventory for 2010 Olympic Winter Games going, going, gone

Additional tickets to go on sale in mid 2009

Vancouver, BC – A mere five hours after they were re-released for sale today, the remaining available tickets to the Vancouver 2010 Winter Games in the Priority Access Period have been sold, reported the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games (VANOC) this afternoon. The next phase of Vancouver 2010 ticket sales will occur in mid-2009. VANOC will begin selling tickets to the Paralympic Winter Games on May 6, 2009. VANOC is continuing to work with tickets.com on an authorized ticket resale program where people will be able to offer their tickets for sale, and customers will be able to buy with confidence knowing tickets are legitimate. Further details will be announced later in 2009.

“Once again, we have been amazed by the interest and support shown by Canadians in tickets to the 2010 Olympic Winter Games,” said Caley Denton, VANOC vice-president ticketing and consumer marketing. “Our website was overwhelmed today and we want to thank everyone for their enthusiasm and patience. We encourage anyone who wants tickets in the future to sign up for updates at www.vancouver2010.com.”

The tickets today were only available to Canadians who requested tickets in Phase 1 of sales, which ended November 7. The Priority Access Period was originally scheduled to run from today to December 22. Earlier this week, VANOC invited ticket account holders to sign into their ticket account at www.vancouver2010.com to find out what tickets they had received from their earlier requests this fall. These same ticket buyers had the exclusive right to buy remaining tickets on a first-come, first-served basis starting today at 9 a.m. (Pacific Time).

About VANOC

VANOC is responsible for the planning, organizing, financing and staging of the XXI Olympic Winter Games and the X Paralympic Winter Games in 2010. The 2010 Olympic Winter Games will be staged in Vancouver and Whistler from February 12 to 28, 2010. Vancouver and Whistler will host the Paralympic Winter Games from March 12 to 21, 2010. Visit www.vancouver2010.com.

Contact
VANOC Communications
mediarelations@vancouver2010.com

12/12/2008 Whistler Blackcomb PEAK 2 PEAK Gondola launches Friday, December 12

WHISTLER, BC, Dec 10, 2008 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ --

    MEDIA NOTE: Whistler Blackcomb is pleased to provide high resolution
    photographs available for editorial use, downloadable at the following
    link

     http://www.whistlerblackcomb.com/photo/index.htm

    Please credit - Photographer Listed, Location: Whistler Blackcomb,
    British Columbia.


    Live webcast at whistlerblackcomb.com will broadcast the excitement as
                   Canada unveils its newest tourism icon

12/12/2008 Opening of speed skating oval marks major milestone for 2010 Olympics

VANCOUVER, B.C. — Athens had centuries of history to provide the backdrop for their Olympic Games and Beijing had billions of dollars to build theirs.

For Vancouver, creating beautiful vistas for the 2010 Games rests on Mother Nature co-operating with snow-capped mountains and crystal clear skies.

But organizers were determined to try to do their part to add to Vancouver's Olympic iconography.

The official opening of the speed skating oval to the public Friday marks the culmination of a concerted effort to make the sole venue built from scratch for the Games an Olympic landmark.

'Everybody that sees the building from the outside is impressed and when they walk inside the universal reaction is 'wow,'' said Ted Townsend, a spokesman for the city of Richmond, B.C., the site of the venue.

The oval sits on the banks of the Fraser River, near the Vancouver airport, and come Games time will seat 8,000 fans and host 12 events.

The flow of the water, the flight of the herons that nest nearby and the fusion of Richmond's Asian and First Nations heritage inspired the design, said Larry Podhora from Cannon Design, the firm responsible.

'We've done things with the structure that make it more humane, more dynamic; that make the interior space an inspiring place as well as being visually accessible to the outside,' said Podhora.

Large panes of glass that form the entire north wall of the facility allow natural light to flow through and provide a breath-taking view of the Fraser River and the North Shore Mountains.

For a sport that got its start outside, it's a welcome change from the usually fully-enclosed ice venues, said Cathy Priestner Allinger, vice-president of sport and games operations for the organizing committee and an Olympic speed skater herself at the 1976 Games.

'You almost feel like you're outside even though you're inside,' she said.

Its completion is also a major milestone for Games planning.

While both London's and Sochi's Olympic committees are struggling to finance their venues in a time of economic gloom, Vancouver will likely finish construction at the end of the month on the curling complex, marking the end of their venue requirements.

In past Olympics, some venues have opened mere days before the Games.

'Forget the economy and everything, that does create a lot of risk,' said Priestner Allinger.

'You do have to test these facilities, you have to get the top athletes on them and you almost always have to tweak them. We planned in enough time to do that comfortably.'

Most of the venue construction for the 2010 Games has taken place in Whistler, B.C., where organizers have built a sliding centre, stadiums and trails for Nordic events.

But in Vancouver, ice rinks at GM Place and the Pacific Coliseum already existed.

All that was needed was to upgrade some existing facilities for training, so they could channel energy and funds into the oval and the curling complex.

From funds allocated by the federal and provincial governments, Olympic organizers paid $63.3 million for the oval.

An additional $9 million for a doping control lab to be housed there came out of the organizing committee's own pocket - double the original lab budget.

Richmond is contributing more than $100 million to cover the rest of the $178-million cost of the oval through land sales and casino revenues, as well as other funds.

Townsend said community support for the facility is evident in the thousands of people who lined up to sign the final panel of one of the building's signature features - the wood roof.

It's one of the world's largest clear-span wooden structures and cost $16 million.

The wood was salvaged from trees killed by mountain pine beetle and put together by StructureCraft Builders, a Delta, B.C.-based company.

About six months ago, the facility was hit with a $2.2-million repair bill after algae and fungi was found on the roofing insulation. The problem has been resolved.

Both city and Olympic officials insisted the building needed to be useful after the Games, which was why it includes a public plaza and parkade and why the overall budget ballooned to $178 million.

'It's going to provide huge benefits in terms of quality of life for our community for generations to come,' said Townsend.

'It also will have a significant transformational effect on our city centre and our waterfront and help us to achieve long-term planning goals for development.'

Post-Games, the oval will become a field house, subdivided into ice, court and turf areas - two Olympic-sized rinks, hardwood courts for basketball, volleyball and racquet sports, and a rubberized turf surface. Around all that, essentially laid over top of the speed skating oval, will be a 400-metre running track.

It will also have a rowing tank that will be used by the University of British Columbia.

It will host a community centre but likely won't ever see a long-track speed skating event again.

Calgary's oval will remain the training centre for the long-track team and will continue to host World Cup events.

12/12/2008 Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games tickets confirmed today for Canadians; ice hockey, curling and snowboard tickets still available

Dec 10, 2008

Vancouver, BC – After five long weeks of patiently waiting, Canadians who requested 2010 Olympic Winter Games tickets in Phase 1 will find out today what tickets they have secured, and can start planning what additional tickets they’ll look for when the Priority Access Period opens from December 12–22.

An e-mail sent today from the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (VANOC) will invite each account holder to log on to their ticket account at www.vancouver2010.com and view the result of their request. These same ticket buyers will also have the exclusive right to buy remaining tickets on a first-come, first-served basis beginning this Friday, December 12 at 9:00 am (Pacific Time). Any tickets remaining after this period, plus any tickets released from the contingency and any remaining Victory Ceremony tickets, will go on sale to the public in mid-2009. VANOC will begin selling tickets to the Paralympic Winter Games on May 6, 2009.

While demand for the majority of sports meant that many sessions were allocated by lottery, there are still tickets remaining, including tickets to preliminary sessions for high-demand sports such as ice hockey and curling. With competitions such as ice hockey, large-capacity venues such as Canada Hockey Place will allow a large number of fans to experience the thrill of seeing elite athletes compete at the highest level, as the shorter tournament competition format ensures every match holds particular significance as competitors vie to finish high in the standings to earn important rest days.

Along with the confirmation of ticket orders today, VANOC issued a reminder to fans to be wary of tickets offered for sale through channels other than www.vancouver2010.com (in partnership with VANOC’s official ticketing services supplier tickets.com) and official 2010 Winter Games hospitality partners JetSet Sports and CoSport.

“We encourage everyone to be vigilant about individuals or companies offering “guaranteed” tickets for sale. For most people even a “money back” guarantee is little consolation for the disappointment, inconvenience and embarrassment they’ll experience if they discover at the gate their ticket is invalid,” said Caley Denton, VANOC vice-president ticketing and consumer marketing. “We are continuing to work with our partner tickets.com on an authorized ticket resale program where people will be able to offer their tickets for sale, and customers will be able to buy with confidence knowing our bar code technology has confirmed the tickets are legitimate.”

Details on VANOC’s official ticket resale market will be announced later in 2009; however, until then, VANOC’s website www.vancouver2010.com or its official hospitality partners, JetSet Sports and CoSport, are the only Canadian sources where people can be confident their 2010 Winter Games tickets are authentic.

About VANOC
VANOC is responsible for the planning, organizing, financing and staging of the XXI Olympic Winter Games and the X Paralympic Winter Games in 2010. The 2010 Olympic Winter Games will be staged in Vancouver and Whistler from February 12 to 28, 2010. Vancouver and Whistler will host the Paralympic Winter Games from March 12 to 21, 2010. Visit www.vancouver2010.com.

Contact
VANOC Communications
mediarelations@vancouver2010.com

12/2/2008 Vancouver 2010 Launches Olympic Torch Relay Route

24 November 2008

Vancouver and Whistler will host the XXI Olympic Winter Games from 12 to 28 February 2010 and the 2010 Paralympic Winter Games from 12 to 21 March 2010. The seven Winter Olympic sports that will be on show in Vancouver are Luge, Skiing, Skating, Ice Hockey, Biathlon, Bobsleigh and Curling.

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12/2/2008 Canadians to find out soon what 2010 Olympic Winter Games’ tickets they have successfully snapped up

Nov 28, 2008

Vancouver, BC ― Canadians anxious to know what tickets to the 2010 Olympic Winter Games they have successfully snapped up will be notified by e-mail on or before December 10 by the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (VANOC). Customers will see charges made to their Visa cards starting December 1.

Ticket buyers who participated in the initial ticket request period, which closed November 7, will also have the exclusive right to buy any remaining Olympic tickets on a first-come, first-served basis from December 12 to 22. Any tickets remaining after this exclusive period will go on sale to the public in mid-2009. VANOC will begin selling tickets to the Paralympic Winter Games on May 6.

“We are so pleased by the overwhelming interest shown by Canadians in requesting tickets to the 2010 Olympic Winter Games and we share in their excitement as they wait to find out what tickets they have received,” said Caley Denton, vice president, ticketing and consumer marketing for VANOC. “This will really drive home the realization for Olympic fans that we are now only about 14 months away from hosting one of the most anticipated events in the world.”

In the meantime, winter sports fans who missed out on tickets, or who cannot wait until 2010 to check out their favourite Olympic-calibre athletes, will have a number of chances to see them in action at sport events in 2009. These events, to take place at 2010 Winter Games venues, will offer spectators a chance to familiarize themselves with sports that may be new to them at an outstanding value. Some events will be free to the public while others will charge between $5 and $40 for single-day event tickets. Check out www.vancouver2010.com for more information.

Canadian residents have requested more than $345 million in tickets to the 2010 Olympic Winter
Games ― 4½ times the first phase of ticketing for the Salt Lake City 2002 Olympic Winter Games ($75 million over nine weeks), the most recent Olympic Games held in North America. An estimated 120 of 170 ticketed sessions for the 2010 Winter Games will be allocated by lottery, including the Opening and Closing Ceremonies, figure skating, short track speed skating, speed skating, and men's ice hockey (from quarter-finals onward).

About VANOC
VANOC is responsible for the planning, organizing, financing and staging of the XXI Olympic Winter Games and the X Paralympic Winter Games in 2010. The 2010 Olympic Winter Games will be staged in Vancouver and Whistler from February 12 to 28, 2010. Vancouver and Whistler will host the Paralympic Winter Games from March 12 to 21, 2010. Visit www.vancouver2010.com.

Contact
VANOC Communications
mediarelations@vancouver2010.com