Officials from the Toronto 2015 Pan American Games are in Vancouver learning from Vancouver’s experience staging the 2010 Winter Games.
Chris Rudge, a board member of the Pan Am Games committee and CEO of the Canadian Olympic Committee, said it was definitely not too early to start preparing for the Toronto games and the scope of the event and planning involved will be immense, reports the CBC. He said, “we haven’t in Toronto, really hosted an event this large”.
Rudge said the Pan Am Games will bigger than the Vancouver Olympics, with 8,000 athletes from 42 countries competing in 36 events.
Preparations will be needed for everything from building facilities and accommodations, to transportation and security.
Rudge said dividing the burdens and the benefits of the games between the city (of Toronto) and the Golden Horseshoe region, will be challenging.
He said, “uniquely in Toronto, you’re going to have one heck of a big political challenge because you’re dealing with the provincial government, the federal government, and 13 or 14 municipalities that are all engaged, and they all have reason to make sure their particular constituency is well looked after”.
