Flush with victory, hockey icon Wayne Gretzky promised countrymen that Canada "will win a gold [medal] in 2010," but the architects of Vancouver's bid for the 2010 Olympic Winter Games are promising the International Olympic Committee much more.
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| The party began Wednesday at GM Place after Vancouver was named 2010 Olympics host. |
In persuading a majority of 109 IOC voters (56) to entrust Vancouver with the Games less than seven years from now, the Canadians — with Gretzky the highest-profile delegation member — pitched a plan rooted in a clear message, a diverse, natural setting (labeled "Sea to Sky") and harmony among governmental leaders who have pledged $1.4 billion for facilities and $600 million in infrastructure investments leading to 2010.
Vancouver was almost a fallen favorite when the IOC voted electronically last Wednesday during its 115th Session in Prague, however. In the first of two rounds, competitor Pyeongchang, a winter resort region in northeastern South Korea, collected a stunning 51 votes as a long shot. This was one effect of a well-produced final presentation that apparently made a difference among some of the voters. Along with Salzburg, Austria, all three of the candidate cities staged 45-minute presentations combining live speeches and slick video packages in the hours before the vote.
"We knew from [IOC Evaluation Commission] reports that people underestimated Pyeongchang," said Jacques Rogge of Belgium, the IOC president since 2001. "The name [of the area] did not ring a bell. Pyeongchang now is on the map, and that was not the case before."
Salzburg sang its own praises, literally, incorporating one Estonian and one American (Grace Bumbry) opera star into its live presentation. But her rendition of "Climb Ev'ry Mountain" was a foreshadowing of what Salzburg will be doing in the future, if it enters the 2014 race. The candidate was eliminated with just 16 first-round votes.
In round two, the Salzburg votes swung to Vancouver, which was a 56-53 winner, assuring Canada of its first Winter Games since Calgary hosted in 1988.
Vancouver was eliminated in the first round in its last candidacy, for host rights to the 1976 Games, at the 1970 IOC Session in Amsterdam. Denver won but never fulfilled its host obligation because a taxpayer revolt forced the city to withdraw. Innsbruck accepted an emergency host role.
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| Canadian contingent celebrates in Prague (from left): Prime Minister Jean Chretien, British Columbia Premier Gordon Campbell and Vancouver Mayor Larry Campbell. |
The decision on 2010 was ultimately good news for NBC, which recently bid $2.001 billion for the 2010 and 2012 Games' U.S. television rights without knowing where either would be hosted. A delegation of attending NBC brass, including NBC Sports Chairman Dick Ebersol, departs Prague knowing that the $820 million portion of its fee is now tied to a Games in North America's Pacific time zone, a likely plus for building prime-time audiences.
There will be some building to do in Vancouver, as well. Jack Poole, chairman and CEO of the Vancouver 2010 bid corporation, urged that facility construction should begin even as the organization is being formed "so we can get athletes of the world using them sooner rather than later."
Poole shot down suggestions that Canadians are leery of hosting Games because of memories of the 1976 Montreal Olympics, which ran $1 billion over budget.
"The money is there as soon as we need it," Poole said. "We've got a construction industry in western Canada accustomed to building things on time and on budget. The business plan is such that I think we can all be pretty confident we'll do all right, and that these Games will happen and that we can earn a surplus."
Steve Woodward reported from meetings of the International Olympic Committee's Executive Board and 115th Session in Prague, Czech Republic.
