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Old Posted Dec 15, 2007, 1:32 AM
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Exclamation Whistler Venues: COMPLETE

COMPLETED AND OPEN:
- Sliding Centre
- Nordic Centre
- Alpine Downhill


Nordic Centre




More than two years before Games begin, construction completed at all Whistler-based Vancouver 2010 competition venues

December 14, 2007

Whistler, BC – Canadian construction workers may not win coveted Olympic and Paralympic competition medals, but they most definitely set new records this month with the completion of construction on all three Whistler Olympic and Paralympic competition venues, on time and on budget. In reaching this landmark goal, the team was able to meet a commitment by the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (VANOC) to offer venues for athlete training two years before the 2010 Winter Games begin. Funded equally by the Government of Canada and the Province of British Columbia, the venues offer all Canadians a legacy of high performance and recreational use, both before – and long after – the 2010 Winter Games.

Construction is now complete at The Whistler Sliding Centre, Whistler Olympic Park (formerly known as the Whistler Nordic Venue) and Whistler Creekside. Whistler Creekside has been operational since the beginning of the 2007-08 ski season; Whistler Olympic Park is operational and will host its first sport competition, and open for public access, tomorrow, December 15th; detailed fit-out and testing at The Whistler Sliding Centre will continue over the next few months.

“Every construction worker and member of our venue team put their hearts into this project and is standing atop their own podium today,” said John Furlong, VANOC Chief Executive Officer. “Their efforts are helping us to meet our commitment to deliver spectacular theatres for sport and lasting community legacies, and we are following through on our promise to offer athletes the chance to train and compete at a world-class level more than two years in advance of the Games.”

A workforce of 2,500 men and women was recruited from British Columbia and across Canada to help build the Whistler venues that will host 46 Olympic medal events and 62 Paralympic medal events in 2010.

“The construction of these venues demonstrates what can be achieved through great partnerships,” said Dan Doyle, VANOC’s Executive Vice President, Venue Construction division. “The dedication of the construction companies and their workers, and the strong support from the Government of Canada, the Province of BC and our sponsors, helped deliver our venue program on time and on budget. Through their work on these venues, our construction team just completed their own Olympic and Paralympic Games and are looking forward to watching proudly as athletes from around the world seek to reach the pinnacle of their sporting lives in 2010.”

To celebrate the end of construction, VANOC and its funding partners from the Government of Canada and the Province of BC will recognize the workers involved in the construction of the three Whistler venues, and their families, at a free community celebration this afternoon. The event will feature local musical talent and a visit by the Vancouver 2010 mascots.

“Today’s milestone event will create a tremendous amount of momentum for the Games, our communities and our Canadian athletes as we continue to prepare for the opening of the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games,” said the Honourable David Emerson, Minister of International Trade and Minister for the Pacific Gateway and the
Vancouver-Whistler Olympics. “The Government of Canada is extremely proud of all the workers who have contributed to making today’s achievement possible.”

Each Olympic and Paralympic venue demonstrates a number of sustainability wins such as building the venues to LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) standards; recycling wood waste on-site; and reusing captured waste heat. In addition, Squamish and Lil’wat Nations-owned companies completed 50 per cent of the construction work at Whistler Olympic Park, which led to additional business opportunities for the Nations in the Sea-to-Sky corridor.

“Part of the Province’s commitment in hosting the 2010 Winter Games is to ensure all venues are turned into sustainable legacies once the Games are over,” said Colin Hansen, Minister of Economic Development and Minister responsible for the Asia Pacific Initiative and the Olympics. “I can assure British Columbians that our province is getting full value on our investment for these Whistler venues and, as a result, our athletes and citizens will benefit for years to come.”

“A host of Vancouver 2010 sponsors, including General Electric, Bell, General Motors (GM) of Canada, Petro-Canada, RONA, Dow Canada and EPCOR, played key roles in delivering the materials, equipment and necessary expertise to ensure our venues are a source of pride for all Canadians when they watch our athletes compete in 2010,” continued Doyle.

During the 2010 Winter Games, Whistler Olympic Park will host the biathlon, cross-country skiing, Nordic combined and ski jumping events; The Whistler Sliding Centre will host bobsleigh, luge and skeleton events; Whistler Creekside will host the alpine skiing events.

The three Whistler venues are among the nine competition venues in the 2010 Winter Games program. The venues for the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games draw on new and existing facilities in Vancouver, Whistler, Richmond and the District of West Vancouver. They will provide optimum conditions for athletes to compete and for spectators to enjoy the excitement of competition.

VANOC is responsible for the planning, organizing, financing and staging of the XXI Olympic Winter Games and the X Paralympic Winter Games in 2010. The 2010 Olympic Winter Games will be staged in Vancouver and Whistler from February 12 to 28, 2010. Vancouver and Whistler will host the Paralympic Winter Games from March 12 to 21, 2010.
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Old Posted Dec 15, 2007, 9:40 AM
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Great news. That's impressive that all the Whistler stuff is now done already. Out of curiosity, what's the status of the Whistler Athlete's Village? It seems to be largely overshadowed here by Vancouver's one.
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Old Posted Dec 15, 2007, 9:48 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by raggedy13 View Post
Great news. That's impressive that all the Whistler stuff is now done already. Out of curiosity, what's the status of the Whistler Athlete's Village? It seems to be largely overshadowed here by Vancouver's one.
I believe the Whistler Village will actually hold more athletes and officials than the Vancouver Village. They started construction on the village earlier this year.
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Old Posted Dec 21, 2007, 9:16 PM
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article and photos of the sliding centre's first run: http://www.vancouver2010.com/en/Orga...0712210931-789
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Old Posted Dec 22, 2007, 8:28 PM
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Games sled track wows champion
Athletes hit 121 km/h in test run at Whistler Sliding Centre

Jeff Lee, Vancouver Sun
Published: Saturday, December 22, 2007

From only a little more than halfway up the track, Canadian bobsledding icon Pierre Lueders and his brakeman Justin Kripps learned a startling fact about the new $104.5-million Whistler Sliding Centre.

It will be far faster than originally designed.


Pushing off lightly last Tuesday from the beginner's start gate -- the sledding equivalent of the bunny hill -- the two men were shocked when they hit speeds of 121 km/h.

And that was from a standing start in a sled with non-competition runners on a track that hadn't been groomed for a race.

"That is very, very uncommon because you're halfway down the hill," Lueders said in an interview Friday. "It is not like any track that exists in the world."

Lueders, Canada's most decorated sledder and a four-time Olympian, and Kripps, a new sledder from Summerland, became the first sliders to try out the new track.

In a test that was kept hush-hush from the public, the two men, who represent one of Canada's best chances for gold in bobsled at the 2010 Winter Olympics, made a series of six runs that started two-thirds the way up the 1.4-km-long track.

They tested 10 curves and tried out the track's new ice-making capabilities.

The tests took place only a few days after Vanoc declared the facility competition ready, but were only made public Friday.

When Vanoc gave media a tour of the centre a week ago they said major testing wouldn't get underway until sometime in the New Year.

But when it became apparent the lower end of the track had iced up quicker than originally planned, officials decided to test it out.

Lueders, who was also the first person to test the track built for the 2006 Turin Games, had hinted to The Vancouver Sun last month that he was hoping to test the Whistler track before the international sporting federations officially certify it in March.

Vanoc said the first runs were necessary to test the the newly formed ice. Officials turned on the refrigeration system several weeks ago after installing 25,000 pounds of ammonia, but they had no way of knowing how well the track would perform until they put a sled on it.

On Tuesday, sliding centre director Craig Lehto gave the go-ahead for the test when weather and track conditions became ideal. And he could think of no one better to christen the track than Lueders.

"The first test run down a new sliding track is a big moment -- and who better to take it than Pierre, one of the world's premier bobsleigh drivers and Justin, his brakeman," Lehto said in a Vanoc statement.

Lueders, won a gold medal in the two-man bobsled at the 1998 Nagano Winter Games and a silver in Turin, said he was a bit apprehensive but not worried about crashing.

"Every time you go down a track there is a lot of apprehension, a lot of wonder," he said. "All the construction people and designers were wondering, it's one thing to do something in a computer, a simulation, and make a plan with all these corners, but it is still the million-dollar question when somebody goes down the hill."

He and Kripps, who only started his competitive sledding career two years ago, immediately discovered the track, one of the steepest in the world, will exceed original top speed projections of 138 km/h.

And under the right conditions a four-man bobsled could surpass the record of 147 km/h on the 1,700-metre track at St. Moritz, Switzerland, he said.

"It's hard to say. You have to take into consideration nobody was pushing. Second, we were starting from halfway down, and third, the preparation of the ice will only get better and smoother. And the runners I was using weren't race-polished."

"We're pleased with the way the track performed in these first test runs and made a few adjustments and observations that simply can't happen until a sled actually takes to the ice," Lehto said. "The next step will be to test skeleton and luge sleds as well."

The two sliders, accompanied by Terry Gudzowsky, a technical delegate from the International Bobsleigh Federation, first walked the track, inspecting the section they were to test. Then, with workers cheering them on, Lueders and Kripps took off.

On their first run, they hit an ice ridge at the bottom, giving them some unexpected air time. The ridge was shaved off for future runs.

The bobsled federation and the International Luge Federation will certify the track in March.

The first international competition will be the FIBT World Cup in February 2009.

jefflee@png.canwest.com
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