Members of the International Olympic Committee’s evaluation commission arrived in Vancouver Saturday and were welcomed by Vancouver 2010 Bid President John Furlong, Canadian IOC member Charmaine Crooks, 2010 Bid Chairman Jack Poole, and a member of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
Upon his arrival commission chairman Gerhard Heiberg spoke to the media and commented that he has been to Vancouver before but has never been to Whistler, where several events would take place if Vancouver is the 2010 host city.
Heiberg told reporters, “well, we are looking for a lot of different issues, as you know transportation, we are looking for the Olympic Village, we are looking at support which we have been reading about and financing and marketing, so there are 17 different themes we will take up here”.
Heiberg also congratulated the bid committee on its recent plebiscite. He said he considered the 64 per cent figure for the bid as “very good”.
He also said he would meet with anti-Olympic protestors during his visit and will attend a street party Sunday afternoon in support of Vancouver’s bid.
During the street party Vancouver’s Mayor Larry Campbell and media personalities plan to join members of the public for the TELUS bobsled zone race series. TELUS is a founding-partner involved in the LegaciesNow program, launched to support and invest in community sport.
And as the 18-member IOC evaluation commission tours prospective 2010 venues, they’ll probably notice the 32 ft. wide x 40 ft. high banner located on the Air Canada hangar on Sea Island. The banner features downhill and slalom racer Emily Brydon, winner of a gold medal at the 2000 World Junior event.
