The questions asked by members of the IOC’s technical team touring Toronto were so detailed, there was even one on the ability of athletes to sleep through the background noise of rowers, who’d be competing outside the Athlete’s Village. The answer? TO-2008 said the gentle sound of air conditioners will be more than adequate to cover up the noise of the outside world.
If members of the technical team look up when they leave the Park Hyatt hotel where they are staying, they will notice a continuous slide show featuring several images from past Olympic Games, and the Toronto 2008 bid logo, playing evenings on the side of a building just half-a-block away from the hotel.
Super bid volunteer Sheldon Bergson said the delegates seemed happy as they entered the Park Hyatt Hotel Friday night. He said there were lots of smiles. Sheldon is a concierge at the Primrose Best Western Hotel, and has his own Web site www.st2008.com. He’s been profiled on the Toronto Summer Games Web Site and during Toronto’s municipal election in November, he ran against Michael Walker, one of two city councillers who voted against the bid. Bergson dropped out of the race to support another counciller, but Walker was elected.
It seems that many of the IOC officials were struck by how much Ontario Premier Mike Harris looked like IOC director-general Francois Carrard. According to a source, while speaking to the evaluation team, Harris “mentioned his cousin Francois, over in Lausanne”, which got them all laughing.