International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Jacques Rogge said he believes the Vancouver 2010 Olympics will leave a legacy as a “blueprint” for future Games. He praised Vancouver organizers for their policies on the environment and long-term use of facilities.
Rogge and members of the IOC executive board toured the Athletes village Tuesday where thousands of athletes and team officials will stay. Rogge will also live there for part of the Games.
He attended an Olympic Truce ceremony in the village plaza, inspected a residential apartment, toured the leisure and game room, and ate lunch in the dining hall.
Rogge called the facilities “outstanding. People who have experienced more Games tell me that it’s the best village they have seen”. Rogge said the same praise applies to the athletes’ mountain village in Whistler.
Rogge said, “hosting the Games is always a complex and challenging undertaking. VANOC and its partners rose to the challenge without compromising the original vision for these Games. The lessons learned here are a blueprint for future Games”.
Rogge has accommodation in Vancouver and so can those that haven’t booked rooms yet. Local tourism officials in Vancouver say there are still plenty of accommodation options available, and tickets to many of the events can be purchased.
Tourism Vancouver’s head of visitor services and communications, Walt Judas said, “it’s not unusual for people within close proximity of a city hosting the Olympics to get caught up in the excitement and decide to pay a visit. We’re expecting folks from Washington and Oregon to drive up for the celebration”.
Meanwhile Vancouver Olympic officials are confident concerns about conditions on Cypress Mountain will soon be forgotten.
David Cobb, VANOC’s executive vice president, said Tuesday both the freestyle skiing and snowboarding courses are at an Olympic-quality calibre.
After testing the course Tuesday World Cup freestyle ski champion Hanna Kearney said course conditions were “absolutely fine”.
