Jacques Rogge, President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), is in Vancouver Tuesday following a short visit to Montreal Monday where he called on all Canadians to get behind the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic Games. After addressing a Montreal Board of Trade luncheon Monday Rogge said, “we believe the Games must be Canadian Games. There must be a sense of ownership in all of Canada, in all the provinces, for these Games. I know our friends in Vancouver want that too”.
He told the luncheon audience that Vancouver needs volunteers, spectators and sponsor support from across Canada. Rogge said, “in 2010 Canada will be centre stage in the world and it has to show a Canadian identity”.
Canada won few medals at either the 1976 Montreal or the 1988 Winter Games in Calgary and Rogge said, “I hope the federal government supports the cause of sport”.
Kevin Wamsley, director of the International Centre for Olympic Studies at the University of Western Ontario, called it “fairly pretentious” for Rogge to attempt to pressure Canada into spending millions of dollars so Canadian athletes can win gold medals at the 2010 Games, reports the Canadian Press (CP).
He said, “the IOC is once again politicking in some unusual places. For a sport leader to come into a nation and try to direct national policy, I think, is fairly pretentious”.
During his speech in Montreal Rogge praised the Canadian Olympic Committee’s (COC) Own the Podium Program – a plan to raise $110 million over five years so Canadian athletes can win 35 medals at the 2010 Games and top the overall standings. Vancouver 2010 has agreed to contribute $55 million towards the plan. Rogge said, “it is important that a host country put strong plans in place to ensure their athletes will achieve podium success at the Olympic Games”.
Michael Chambers, president of the COC, denied Rogge will try to influence federal spending. Chambers said, “he’s not putting pressure on anyone. It is the government of the country which must decide how it will spend its revenues”.
Rogge said the Vancouver Games were in their “honeymoon phase” and he was “extremely pleased” with what he’s seen so far from organizers.
During the next phase of the Canadian visit Rogge will be visiting the winter resort of Whistler, where several competitions will be held. But while he’s in Whistler the IOC President will feel the effects of the Pineapple Express, which caused a winter thaw making the mountains of Whistler a trifle soggy. John Nadeau, president of the Whistler Chamber of Commerce, called it an “anomaly”, reports the Globe and Mail. Rogge is scheduled to stroll through Whistler Village, where the manager of the Longhorn Saloon noted Monday, “it sure doesn’t feel or look like winter around here”.
Sam Corea, spokesman for Vancouver 2010 said, “if you’re into the too-little (snow) scenario, you start stockpiling your snow in the high alpine, you can truck it, you can make show”.
Corea noted that Vancouver has never hidden its sometimes-balmy winter conditions. The newspaper reports that Corea said traditionally February is the ideal month for winter sports with clear skies, little fog and sufficient snow. But for the past two weeks temperatures in Vancouver have hovered near 10 degrees Celsius and in Whistler the highs have been around five degrees.
