One year from today, at 6 p.m. at ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ Place Stadium in Vancouver, this province will step into the world spotlight as it has never done before.
Whether booster or critic, no British Columbian will be just a casual observer. All four million of us will have some stake in the outcome of the 16 days -- Feb. 12-28 -- which will follow the opening ceremonies. We're paying the most for the $7-billion 2010 Winter Olympics. It's our show.
Although the Island athlete connection won't be anywhere near what it is for a Summer Olympics -- there were 46 Island competitors at the 2008 Beijing Summer Games -- the impact of 2010 Winter will be felt here in so many other ways. How could it not?
Yesterday, the Swiss and Swedish snowboarders were training on Mount Washington with various national teams in snow sports coming to set up shop on the Island ski hill over the next 365 days in preparation for the 2010 Winter Games.
In the capital region, mayors Dean Fortin of
Victoria, Frank Leonard of Saanich, Chris Causton of Oak Bay, Barbara Desjardins of Esquimalt, Alice Finall of North Saanich and David Saunders of Colwood have put their signatures on a slick 20-page brochure being sent out this week to national winter sport federations inviting them to hold their pre-Games training camps in hockey, curling, speed skating and figure skating in Greater Victoria.
If Valentin Diseev, president of the Figure Skating Federation of Russia, or Dave Ogrean of USA Hockey didn't know of Archie Browning Sports Centre, Bear Mountain Arena and the Westin, Ian Stewart Complex, Pearkes and Commonwealth rec centres, Victoria Curling Club or Panorama Leisure Centre before, they certainly do now.
"To have all these mayors come together like this is a real breakthrough for the region," said Hugh MacDonald, executive director of SportHost Victoria.
"We are a summer sports hotbed but it shows how everybody is pulling together to show off our ice-sheet and huge dryland training assets. We don't care if it's the Aussie figure-skating team, which only needs a bed and breakfast and ice time prior to competing in 2010, we want them here."
The rising costs on the security front, and the Athletes Village debacle, have caused some sense of trepidation. Hiccups, however, are natural in the cycle of Games preparation, notes Jim Reed, who was second in charge for the 1994 Victoria Commonwealth Games. Those Games, too, were beset by uncertainties and harsh press in the lead-up before turning into a marvellous, almost magical, 10 days.
"Where have we seen this movie before?" asks Reed.
Triathlete Simon Whitfield of Victoria, whose Summer Olympics gold medal at Sydney 2000 and steely silver-medal performance at Beijing 2008 lifted the nation, said he senses a mood shift in the province as the blare of the trumpets draws closer.
"I get the feeling the silent majority in ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ is really positive about the 2010 Winter Games and the benefits they can bring," said Whitfield.
"People who complain are always the most vocal and you can always make the case the money could have been spent elsewhere. But this is how we decided to spend it. If we do it wisely, and get the most out of it, the huge majority of people will be supportive and enthusiastic."
