Canadian athletes at 2010 Olympics are assured of the best spots in the village
Jeff Lee
Sun
People walk at the athlete’s Olympic Village in Beijing just days before the start of the 2008 Summer Games. Photograph by : Michael Kappeler, Agence France-Presse; Getty Images
At The Beijing Games – Tim Morrison’s job is to look after the comfort of the 5,500 athletes from around the world who will come to Vancouver and Whistler for the 2010 Winter Games.
But he can’t help to be just a little bit pro-Canadian, and this last week he was bursting with a secret he wanted to share.
When Canada‘s athletes arrive at the brand new village on False Creek, they’ll find themselves being housed in the best of the buildings, front-and-centre on the water with an unobstructed view of the new park and a man-made island.
It’s a little thing he and the others at the Vancouver Organizing Committee can do for Canada without appearing to be overtly favouring anyone. After all, all athletes in the village, whether they are from Canada or from the Bahamas, will have equal accommodations and equal access to services.
But putting the Canadians in Building 4 closest to Cambie Bridge will give them a psychological boost, said Morrison, Vanoc’s managing director of Athletes Villages and food and beverages.
“It’s a great spot, but then all throughout the village is a great spot,” he said. “We’re suggesting this spot [to the Canadian team] because it’s close to the amenities, close to the dining hall, it’s just a real signature spot.”
Vanoc has also given the Canadian hockey teams at the UBC Winter Sports Centre their own dressing room, decorated with Canadian flags and motifs.
Morrison was in Beijing last week, taking the last lessons he could from the Beijing Organizing Committee officials who are running the athletes villages and food services in the sporting venues.
He walked through the kitchens that prepare more than 40,000 meals a day for the athletes and workforce, looked in bedrooms and toured the international zone in the village.
He had no critical comments about the way his Chinese counterparts have done things.
But one of the biggest lessons he encountered was watching how the 205 countries set up their offices and how Bocog handled problems. Each National Olympic Committee is allocated space for offices, doctors, physiotherapists,counsellors, coaches and other officials, dependent upon the number of athletes and their needs. The biggest problem that emerged was a lack of office space and problems with the Internet.
But no sooner were problems discovered than Bocog fixed them, he said.
“When something was brought up and there was a concern, they were very efficient and it was taken care of,” he said.
Many of the teams have hung flags from their balconies, with Canada‘s so large no one could miss it. Some teams have also converted a spare bedroom to a communal area customized to make it seem more like home.
It’s an important aspect Morrison says is not lost on him. With each athlete facing enormous personal and team pressure to perform, having a quiet place is as good as gold.
Bocog has tried hard to give the villages a homey flavour. There are gardens and water features and quiet places to reflect. Each athlete and media bedroom also comes with a personalized picture drawn by a Chinese child, which the occupant can take home after the Games as a souvenir.
It’s an idea Morrison is also considering for Vancouver.
As was the case in Beijing, Morrison said Vanoc will try to keep teams together in several buildings. The Canadians in one, the Americans in another, the Germans in a third and so on.
“It’s because all the teams want to keep their athletes together, to make sure they have that communication for their teams,” he said.
Sometimes that’s not possible. Many of the smaller countries are scattered throughout the Beijing complex, as they also will be in Vancouver. But wherever possible, Morrison said he’s trying to keep countries together.
He also expects that, like here, few teams will opt to take rooms outside the village. In Beijing, the American basketball team is staying in private accommodation to keep autograph-seekers to a minimum, a problem that also forced tennis star Roger Federer to move out of the village.
“I don’t think it’s because they are used to staying in a certain luxury.
It’s because they walk in and they are swamped,” Morrison said.
Food quality and supply is an important issue at any Games. Morrison said Aramark, one of the largest food service companies in the world, has the contract for the athletes and media villages. Aramark has its own quality-control staff here to make sure only the freshest foods reach the table.
One chef recruited from New York who talked to a Sun reporter said the Chinese were insistent on raising all of the foods locally in approved farms that minimize the risk of food-borne illnesses.
Still, getting access to enough food has been a problem in Beijing, the chef said. Often supplies run out or are late to arrive because of bureaucracy or tight security.
But Morrison said it is remarkable how well the Olympic food service is run.
Vancouver has not yet signed a food service provider. Vanoc has issued three requests for proposals, one for the combined athletes’ villages in Vancouver and Whistler, one for Vancouver venues and one for Whistler venues. The villages proposal closes in September and the two venues contracts close in October.
© The Vancouver Sun 2008