SpongeG
Mar 24, 2008, 4:27 AM
Sweden to base Nordic ski teams at Mt. Washington
Pre-Olympic training decision will trigger a rush, says John Furlong during Friday visit to the Valley
Sweden's decision to base its Nordic ski teams at Mount Washington on Vancouver Island for pre-2010 Olympics training will trigger a rush by other countries to lock in training facilities around B.C., said Vancouver Organizing Committee CEO John Furlong.
The Comox Valley Spirit Committee announced Friday during a visit here by Furlong and the three 2010 Olympic mascots, that Sweden's national Olympic committee will use Mount Washington for its cross-country and biathlon training camps in both 2009 and 2010 and may also move its freestyle team here.
As well, the community committee said the International Paralympic Committee will hold a World Cup at Mount Washington next year, a week before another World Cup in the Callaghan Valley that is being used as a test event for the 2010 Paralympics.
Although the Austrian national ski team has used Sun Peaks Resort near Kamloops for several years for pre-season training, Sweden is the first country to decide to set up 2010 training facilities.
Furlong likened Sweden's decision, with its powerful Olympic reputation, to a heightening of military alertness around the world.
"It's like going from Defcon 2 to Defcon 1," he said. "It will get communities and countries to become more alert and aware that conditions are now changing. Facilities are being booked and relationships are evolving, and as a consequence, they will not want to be left behind."
Joe Bajan, the president of the Courtenay Biathlon Association, said top athletes like Anna Carin Olofsson, who won a gold and a silver medal for Sweden at the 2006 Turin Games, will now call Courtenay home in 2010.
Swedish athletes won 14 medals in Turin, including seven gold - four of them in Nordic sports - and placed sixth in the overall medal count, just behind Canada.
Comox Valley has one of the most active Spirit of B.C. committees in the province, 100 of which were set up around the province by communities wanting to leverage the momentum created by the Vancouver Games.
Over the last five years the Comox Valley group, with the assistance of the provincial and federal governments, private donors and Mount Washington Resort, poured nearly $1 million into building and upgrading cross-country trails and a biathlon shooting range at the resort, all with the idea of trying to lure national Olympic committees to base their 2010 training camps there.
It has one of the few Olympic-level biathlon ranges in B.C., other than the 2010 facility in the Callaghan, making it a hot target for the world's best teams.
A Comox delegation went to the 2006 Turin Olympics to court prospective countries and over the last two years entertained sporting delegations from Sweden, France, Norway, Croatia and elsewhere.
Furlong said Sweden's decision will have an electric effect around the province.
"Sweden is a juggernaut at the Olympics, and I can tell you that they are not coming here for any reason other than to win and they see [Mount Washington] as the place that can help them do it," he said.
"I think for some communities, it is going from pie in the sky to pie in the plate."
Len Apedaile, the president of the Vancouver Island Mountain Sports Society, said as many as six major Olympic teams are expected to base their training at Mount Washington. Many of them want to train with their competitors at the same facility, but also want unrestricted access.
"One real worry that the Swedes, the Norwegians and the French have said is they don't want everybody here because they don't want it to be too crowded," he said.
"If they come here they want access to the biathlon range."
That's good news for other communities in B.C. because many of the 80-plus countries coming to the 2010 Games will be searching for space of their own elsewhere in the province, said Stan Hagen, the provincial minister of tourism and sport.
"People in this game pay attention to where people are going. I think having this decision will certainly stimulate interest," he said. "This is a very competitive game. So [communities] should keep on fighting to get groups to come to their community."
http://www.canada.com/vancouverisland/comoxvalleyecho/news/story.html?id=59d1855d-3f6b-4e09-a90f-3326cb09c29a
Pre-Olympic training decision will trigger a rush, says John Furlong during Friday visit to the Valley
Sweden's decision to base its Nordic ski teams at Mount Washington on Vancouver Island for pre-2010 Olympics training will trigger a rush by other countries to lock in training facilities around B.C., said Vancouver Organizing Committee CEO John Furlong.
The Comox Valley Spirit Committee announced Friday during a visit here by Furlong and the three 2010 Olympic mascots, that Sweden's national Olympic committee will use Mount Washington for its cross-country and biathlon training camps in both 2009 and 2010 and may also move its freestyle team here.
As well, the community committee said the International Paralympic Committee will hold a World Cup at Mount Washington next year, a week before another World Cup in the Callaghan Valley that is being used as a test event for the 2010 Paralympics.
Although the Austrian national ski team has used Sun Peaks Resort near Kamloops for several years for pre-season training, Sweden is the first country to decide to set up 2010 training facilities.
Furlong likened Sweden's decision, with its powerful Olympic reputation, to a heightening of military alertness around the world.
"It's like going from Defcon 2 to Defcon 1," he said. "It will get communities and countries to become more alert and aware that conditions are now changing. Facilities are being booked and relationships are evolving, and as a consequence, they will not want to be left behind."
Joe Bajan, the president of the Courtenay Biathlon Association, said top athletes like Anna Carin Olofsson, who won a gold and a silver medal for Sweden at the 2006 Turin Games, will now call Courtenay home in 2010.
Swedish athletes won 14 medals in Turin, including seven gold - four of them in Nordic sports - and placed sixth in the overall medal count, just behind Canada.
Comox Valley has one of the most active Spirit of B.C. committees in the province, 100 of which were set up around the province by communities wanting to leverage the momentum created by the Vancouver Games.
Over the last five years the Comox Valley group, with the assistance of the provincial and federal governments, private donors and Mount Washington Resort, poured nearly $1 million into building and upgrading cross-country trails and a biathlon shooting range at the resort, all with the idea of trying to lure national Olympic committees to base their 2010 training camps there.
It has one of the few Olympic-level biathlon ranges in B.C., other than the 2010 facility in the Callaghan, making it a hot target for the world's best teams.
A Comox delegation went to the 2006 Turin Olympics to court prospective countries and over the last two years entertained sporting delegations from Sweden, France, Norway, Croatia and elsewhere.
Furlong said Sweden's decision will have an electric effect around the province.
"Sweden is a juggernaut at the Olympics, and I can tell you that they are not coming here for any reason other than to win and they see [Mount Washington] as the place that can help them do it," he said.
"I think for some communities, it is going from pie in the sky to pie in the plate."
Len Apedaile, the president of the Vancouver Island Mountain Sports Society, said as many as six major Olympic teams are expected to base their training at Mount Washington. Many of them want to train with their competitors at the same facility, but also want unrestricted access.
"One real worry that the Swedes, the Norwegians and the French have said is they don't want everybody here because they don't want it to be too crowded," he said.
"If they come here they want access to the biathlon range."
That's good news for other communities in B.C. because many of the 80-plus countries coming to the 2010 Games will be searching for space of their own elsewhere in the province, said Stan Hagen, the provincial minister of tourism and sport.
"People in this game pay attention to where people are going. I think having this decision will certainly stimulate interest," he said. "This is a very competitive game. So [communities] should keep on fighting to get groups to come to their community."
http://www.canada.com/vancouverisland/comoxvalleyecho/news/story.html?id=59d1855d-3f6b-4e09-a90f-3326cb09c29a
