It’s anybody’s guess whether Toronto will win the race to host the 2008 Toronto Summer Games. But it seems the battle has been won, or as TO-2008 President and CEO John Bitove said, “we felt we nailed a perfect 10”.
And David Crombie, chairman of TO-2008 said, “if you ever want to show this city off, March is not your month, but it shone for a week”.
At a news conference held Monday, bid officials said the fact that the IOC panel made no negative comments about Toronto was a positive sign. Bitove said “I was waiting with bated breath over what (the IOC panel) would say and what they would expose as our weaknesses. But the fact is there was no issue that they voiced concern over. They highlighted what they were impressed by but the important thing is that they did not find one deficiency, and that is what we are the most proud of”.
Bitove added that the IOC group worked day and night, never used the complimentary theatre tickets they were issued and didn’t accept dinners with bid officials. “They were serious. They came here with a list of questions. They never took time off”, he said.
The group was most impressed with the multiculturalism of Toronto. In fact, one of the evaluation commission members asked to be served food traditional to his or her country during the four-day stay. Bitove didn’t say whether the delegate was from Korea, the Phillippines, Brazil, Zimbabwe or Ukraine, but he did say that the delegate ate his or her fill, every day.
And the majority of protesters out in force outside the IOC presentation Sunday night weren’t protesting Toronto’s bid. They were the Friends of Tibet, trying to persuade the IOC not to choose Beijing, considered by some the frontrunner to win the 2008 bid. Protesters handed out leaflets critical of human-rights violations in Tibet and others protested the repression of groups such as the Falun Gong spiritual movement.
On a high note, after all the meetings were over, the IOC evaluation commission seemed to enjoy a closing dinner with dignitaries which included Canada’s Prime Minister Jean Chretien.
Several groups, including Slavic dancers, First Nations drummers, hip hop teenagers and Celtic tap dancers entertained the IOC team, and when all the groups combined to form a long conga line, they invited everyone to join in, including Prime Minister Chretien, Ontario Premier Mike Harris and Toronto’s colourful Mayor Mel Lastman.
