The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
The Canadian Olympic Committee (COC) took another step toward helping winter sports achieve the goals of the Own The Podium - 2010 plan after completing a comprehensive three-day site visit of the Vancouver and Whistler Olympic venues last week. Several winter sport athletes, coaches and National Sport Federations (NSFs) also participated in the visit. "These three days have provided the Canadian Olympic Committee with invaluable information to develop a performance plan that will ensure we achieve our Own the Podium goal of being the top medal winner in Vancouver," said COC Chief Executive Officer Chris Rudge. "We are extremely pleased with the progress being made on the venues in Vancouver and Whistler, and congratulate VANOC for coordinating a very professional and productive site visit." On July 18 and 19, the COC became the first National Olympic Committee to officially tour the venue sites for the 2010 Olympic Winter Games. The venue visits were followed last week by specific meetings on transportation, sport services, ceremonies, villages and National Olympic Committee relations. The purpose of the COC's visit was to see the locations and structural plans for sport venues and non-competition venues such as the athletes' villages; gather information to create a high performance plan that best prepares Canadian athletes, teams and coaches for achieving podium success in 2010; build and strengthen relationships with VANOC; and identify advance training and preparation sites as well as Games-time facilities such as a performance centre, accommodations outside of the athletes' villages and a venue for Canada Olympic House, the COC's traditional hosting and hospitality venue. "From a high-performance standpoint, our goal is to put the Canadian team in an optimum position to win in 2010," said Mark Lowry, COC Executive Director, Sport. "This means giving our athletes, coaches and winter NSFs every opportunity to plan, prepare and familiarize themselves with the venues and the plans well in advance. It also means building close relationships with VANOC and the communities hosting the Games so that Canadian athletes always feel at home here." "It was exciting to be part of this first site visit to Vancouver," said Lindsay Alcock, a Calgary-based Olympian in Skeleton (2002) and hopeful for the 2006 Olympic team. "It was particularly great to be one of only a handful of athletes to see the site and design for the sliding centre in Whistler. It gives me an opportunity to visualize the course, which will be a strong technical course, and start developing a long-term training plan." The COC traditionally schedules several site visits prior to an Olympic Games with the first visit beginning about three years in advance of the opening ceremony. For the 2010 Games, the COC is beginning its planning process two years early to provide optimum support to the Canadian team to help it achieve the objectives set out in the Own the Podium plan. The Canadian Olympic Committee is a national, private, not-for-profit organization committed to sport excellence. It is responsible for all aspects of Canada's involvement in the Olympic movement, including Canada's participation in the Olympic and Pan American Games and a wide variety of programs that promote the Olympic Movement in Canada through cultural and educational means. For more information, see the COC website: www.olympic.ca.
