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Vancouver abuzz as Winter Games near

CRAIG HILL; The News Tribune The News Tribune | • Published December 20, 2009

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VANCOUVER, B.C. – At 6 tonight the big blue digital numbers on the 20-foot-tall clock standing in Robson Square will read “54.”

Fifty-four days to go until the Winter Olympics return to the Pacific time zone for the first time since Squaw Valley, Calif., hosted the 1960 games. And 54 days until the Olympics come as close – 11.9 miles to be exact – as they likely ever will to Washington.

The venues are ready, hotels are booked, most of the 1.6 million tickets have been sold, and the finishing touches are being applied to the largest city ever to host the winter games.

Come Feb. 12 through 28, athletes from 80 countries and 250,000 visitors from around the world are expected to descend on Vancouver and Whistler, bringing with them $4 billion (Canadian) in economic benefits for British Columbia.

Mary Fraser of the Vancouver Organizing Committee says her heart beats a little faster every time she walks past the downtown clock and thinks about how close the games are getting.

“It’s humbling,” the Vancouver native said. “You see this project come out of the ground and you know the thousands and thousands of people who made it happen – the whole country making this project come to life.”

READY TO GO

Three blocks away from the clock, past a hotel wrapped in the largest Canadian flag ever made, 40 50-foot-tall banners hanging outside Hudson’s Bay Co. department store proudly proclaim, “We were made for this.”

It’s hard to argue that point. After all, this is the nation that depicts hockey on the back of its $5 bill.

Cradled between the sea and the snow-capped Coast Mountain Range, Vancouver has long been a city in love with winter recreation. Two ski areas are visible from downtown, and a public ice rink sits in the heart of the city.

So, it seems only natural that most locals would be excited for the games.

During the second phase of ticket sales, the Canadian ticketing Web site received 1,300 hits per second, Fraser said.

Canadians also have been clamoring to buy what appears to be the hottest piece of Olympic merchandise – red mittens stitched with the Canadian maple leaf on the palm and the Olympic rings on the back.

“They’ve sold out, and if you wear them, people will come up to you on the street and ask you for them,” said Emily Armstrong, a manager for Tourism Vancouver.

Armstrong said the buzz for the games started to intensify in February when Vancouver and Whistler hosted a series of Olympic test events, all of which VANOC said went smoothly. Armstrong’s case of Olympic fever reached the boiling point when she was selected to carry the Olympic torch in early November. “Canadians are definitely excited about the games,” Armstrong said. “You hear people talking about it all the time.”

Ab Kurk manages a scuba diving shop on Granville Island, an area Armstrong says could get 30,000 tourists per day during the games. Kurk’s not so sure the games will boost business much for him, but he likes having the Olympics in town.

“It’s absolutely a good thing,” Kurk said. “It’s improved some things here.”

Kurk points specifically to improved public transportation such as the Canada Line, a new elevated train that travels between the airport, downtown and Richmond.

Dan Bergeron sells fused glass art at a stand in the Granville Island Public Market and hopes the games will be good for business.

“But I can see it going two ways,” Bergeron said. “It could either be good for business or it will be so crowded nobody can move.”

Since Vancouver won the bid in 2003, Olympic organizers have made it a priority to make the games as Canadian as possible.

Approximately 80 percent of all Olympic-related contracts were awarded to British Columbia companies, said Greg Dickson of the B.C. Olympic Winter Games Secretariat. And almost 95 percent went to Canadian companies, Fraser said.

COMPETITIVE SPIRIT

It’s Roger Jackson’s job to make sure Canada comes away with another form of gold – not to mention silver and bronze.

Jackson is the CEO of Own the Podium, a program established in 2005 to make sure the Canadians dominate the Vancouver games.

They haven’t done well the other times they’ve hosted. During the 1988 winter games in Calgary and the 1976 games in Montreal, Canada failed to win a single gold medal.

“I’d like to think we can win at least one this time,” Jackson said.

Actually, for the price Canadians are paying for the Own the Podium program, they expect much more. The Canadian government and VANOC split the $110 million (Canadian) that has infused training for the national team since 2005.

“We estimated that by spending that amount we could move up to 30 medals or more,” said Jackson, an Olympic rowing champ from the 1964 games.

Shooting for 30 medals means that Canada has placed Germany and the United States squarely in its sights.

Germany is king of the winter games, leading the medal standings every Olympics but one since its reunification in 1990.

The United States is Canada’s natural rival, and also its role model.

“We saw the success they had when they hosted in Salt Lake City in 2002,” Jackson said. “That’s what we are hoping for.”

The U.S. ratcheted up its training budget in advance of the Salt Lake City games with historic results. After winning 13 medals in 1998, Team USA claimed 34 medals in 2002 – second only to Germany’s 36.

Canada is coming off its best Olympics with 24 medals in ’06, a year after Own the Podium started. And Canada has increased its medal total each Winter Olympics since 1984.

So should the U.S. be nervous?

“I’ve never heard of the Americans being afraid of the Canadians,” Jackson said with a laugh. “We’re supposed to be frightened to death of our big neighbors to the south.

“… But whatever happens in Vancouver between the three of us (Canada, Germany and the USA) it’s going to be fun.”

Craig Hill: 253-597-8497

craig.hill@thenewstribune.com

blog.thenewstribune.com/Olympics Despite hype, not everyone loves Vancouver Games

VANCOUVER, B.C. – Not all Canadians are excited to host the giant party.

Vancouver resident Greg Hamilton is so upset about the games he teamed with other protesters to make a documentary called “Five Ring Circus.” Hamilton was in charge of research for the film that can be viewed at thefiveringcircus.com.

“If the Olympics were truly about amateur competition in a nonviolent forum I would be the first one in line to pay for tickets,” Hamilton said. “But the countries who host the Olympics pay a price.”

Hamilton and other opponents say their reasons for protesting the games are environmental, economic and social.

While many of the Olympic venues were in place before Vancouver bid for the games, and architects won awards for environmentally friendly designs for the new venues, protesters say new venues such as Whistler Olympic Park in the Callaghan Valley still affected the environment in ways that wouldn’t have happened had the region never hosted the games.

While Mary Fraser of the Vancouver Organizing Committee said organizers will stay within their budgets of $580 million for venues and $1.67 billion for operations, Hamilton said the real pricetag is much higher. In January, the Vancouver Sun reported the games would cost Canadian taxpayers more than $6 billion for projects such as the Canada Line and upgrading the Sea to Sky Highway between Vancouver and Whistler.

A new law allows police to detain the homeless and transport them to shelters during cold weather. The Vancouver Sun reported Dec. 10 that the law has been criticized as an attempt to get the poor off streets during the games, but that the city has denied that.

“There would have been a revolution if this hadn’t been done in the name of sport,” Hamilton said.

Hamilton plans to protest during the games. VANOC issued a statement in September stating that protesters will be given areas for peaceful demonstrations. “But it doesn’t mean that’s where they have to be,” Fraser said.

And there will be protests. A statement from activist Anna Hunter on Olympic resistance.net reads, “We will do whatever we can to disrupt the 2010 Olympic Winter Games because disruption has proved extremely successful.”

The statement implied that the Olympic Resistance Network protests would be peaceful.

Fraser says VANOC does not necessarily view the protests as a negative part of the Olympic festivities.

“What the games provide is a wonderful opportunity to cast a spotlight on all kinds of issues,” Fraser said. “And I think the partnerships that have been developed as a result of these games through different levels of government through municipalities, through different organizations will hopefully continue post games.

“And if that’s a legacy we can leave for the betterment of social issues, then that’s a good thing.”

Craig Hill: 253-597-8497

craig.hill@thenewstribune.com

blog.thenewstribune.com/Olympics

BY THE NUMBERS Estimated number of athletes and officials Number of athletes from Washington who have qualified to compete, so far Estimated number of participating countries Estimated number of accredited media representatives Estimated number of volunteers Number of expected worldwide television viewers IF YOU GO ...

It’s not too late to score tickets or lodging for the Feb. 12-28 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, B.C.

Get tickets: Tickets still are available for the Olympics at cosport.com. Also, if sponsors return tickets they will be made available to the public, said Vancouver Organizing Committee spokeswoman Mary Fraser. It is possible some tickets will be available at the venues during the games, she said.

Find a bed: Most traditional accommodations have long been booked for the Olympics. However, there still are plenty of other lodging options, said Emily Armstrong of Tourism Vancouver. Accommodations range from a hostel ($40 Canadian per night) to a cruise ship ($585). To find lodging, visit 2010destinationplanner.com.

The exchange rate: Don’t expect the exchange rate to give you much relief from high Olympics prices. On Thursday, $1 Canadian was worth 95 cents U.S., according to exchangerate.com.

An alternative: While tickets and lodging for the winter games are quite expensive, there is a less costly way to experience the Olympic atmosphere in Vancouver. Vancouver and Whistler will hold the Paralympics March 12-21. Event tickets are typically $20 Canadian or less, and only the gold medal sledge hockey match is sold out. Lodging during the Paralympics is not going at the Olympic premium rates. “Rates are close to normal,” Armstrong said. “Maybe you’ll pay an extra $20 per night.”

Craig Hill, The News Tribune