Guadalajara 2011 Ahead of Pace With One Year to Go

(ATR) Guadalajara 2011 sports director Ivar Sisniega tells Around the Rings at the one-year-to-go mark that Pan Am construction is weeks ahead of schedule and revenue generation a full year ahead.

ATR will be on the scene Tuesday in Acapulco when organizers report to the Pan American Sports Organization on the sidelines of the weeklong Association of National Olympic Committees assembly.

PASO president Mario Vazquez Rana told leaders of the 42 participating NOCs at their last gathering back in May that he expects them to grill Guadalajara with questions this time around.

The 2011 Pan Ams have been troubled with delays in building major venues such as the Pan American Village and the stadium for athletics, both of which Sisniega says are now two to three weeks ahead of pace.

Organizers will present Tuesday a month-by-month projection with up-to-date pictures of Games construction, just as they did this summer in Merida when the outlook wasn’t as promising.

"[PASO delegates] are going to see all the structure, and they’re going to see a lot of the buildings," Sisniega said Wednesday.

"They’re going to see a village which is already taking shape, which already has a lot of the construction finalized."

Contractors will hand over buildings as they are finished, and Guadalajara 2011 expects to move in and remodel everything in June.

Both the Games housing and the athletics stadium sport May completion dates, a deadline with which Sisniega is comfortable.

The base of the warm-up track has already been finalized, he said, and all ground has been cleared.

"It’s a fairly simple construction. Even with temporary seating, it’s only going to get up to about 15,000 seats," he said of the stadium.

"And the land on which it’s being built is fairly flat so we foresee a fairly rapid advance."

Even after Tuesday’s presentation, PASO delegates will be able to follow construction progress as Guadalajara 2011 fast approaches. Organizers will be posting pictures online until venues are complete, a practice Sisniega plans to retire well before the Games begin.

"They’re supposed to finish everything by the month of May next year," he said, a message he hopes will appease his PASO peers next week.

The Countdown Starts

The construction update comes as Sisniega and his colleagues ready a host of one-year-to-go celebrations.

Next October’s opening ceremony will begin at 8.p.m. sharp, and so too will Thursday’s festivities.

Between 15 and 20 thousand people will gather around La Minerva, a fountain named for the Roman goddess of wisdom, and the nearby Arcos Vallarta, Guadalajara’s equivalent of the Arc de Triomphe.

"It’s a very symbolic place for us," Sisniega said of the landmarks that lie just a block away from the starting line for the Pan Am marathon and road cycling events.

Organizers will unveil a specially made countdown clock as mariachi bands entertain the crowd and volunteers hand out stickers to passing motorists with the Games slogan "Yo soy Panamericano", or "I Am Pan American".

By the Numbers

The 2011 Pan Ams take place Oct. 14 to 30, with more than 5,000 athletes competing in what will be the biggest multi-discipline event of the year with 36 sports, 26 on the program for London.

Qualification for the 2012 Olympics will be decided in equestrian, canoeing, modern pentathlon and a host of other events.

Either the medalists or a certain number of top finishers will qualify in at least 15 sports. Athletics and swimming times will also be valid.

Sisniegasaid that’s two or three more than Rio 2007, Guadalajara 2011’s apparent benchmark for success.

Healsonoted that the 2011 Pan Ams boast almost as much revenue as the Games four years ago, even with a year still to go.

"We’d hoped to reach the level of Rio, which is about $50 million total," he said.

"That includes sponsors, TV rights and projected ticket sales, and we’re pretty close to that projected total already."

Guadalajara announced three top sponsors this week – Nissan, Telmex and Telcel – and expects to reach 80 by Games-time.

"It’s been a good result," Sisniega said, "and we can only go up from here."

A Truly Pan American Games

Organizers are hoping widespread promotion of the Pan Ams will ensure the competition lives up to its name, both in terms of athletes and in terms of attendees.

Sisniega told ATR next year’s spectators won’t all come from the state of Jalisco but will instead flock from all over Mexico and, for that matter, from all over the Americas.

Guadalajara 2011 began a nationwide TV ad campaign duringthissummer’s FIFA World Cup and will join forceswiththe Mexico Tourism Board to further spread its message.

"They have an ongoing campaign to promote Mexico," Sisniega explained, "and we’re going to work together with them to have a huge campaign all over the continent promoting the Games and promoting Mexico as a tourist destination."

He also said Mexico’s crime problems, particularly with gangs, don’t make him hesitant to promote the Games outside Jalisco.

"The truth is that Guadalajara is a city where most of the inhabitants aren’t suffering the type of violence that we have in other parts of Mexico," he said.

"It’s a safe environment, I’d say safer than many of the countries that will be coming to the Games."

Sisniega cited a slew of international conventions as well as more than 40 test events as evidence that his city is ready to shine, then reiterated his hopes that Guadalajara 2011 will be truly Pan American.

"We want everyone to come to Guadalajara," he said, "and the reason for having the Games is despite the problems that some parts of Mexico have, that people can see that 1) we can organize a great Pan Am Games and 2) that visitors will have the opportunity to see sports, to watch high-level athletics, but also to go enjoy the city."

A cultural festival, complete with nightly mariachi concerts, will span the two-week competition.

A Stepping Stone, But To What?

After coordinating Guadalajara’s abandoned attempt to host the 2014 Youth Olympic Games, Sisniega refused to speculate on another YOG bid while ruling out an Olympic-sized follow-up to these Pan American Games.

"The facilities we’re building are not for Olympic Games," he said, "but they would certainly be very good and a very good size and a very good fit for the Youth Olympic Games."

He also said the city has the infrastructure necessary to host the YOG but won’t entertain the thought until after the 2011 Games are through.

"That decision will be made probably by the politicians after the Pan Am Games," he said.

The Mexican Olympic Committee (COM) withdrew Guadalajara 2014 in January to focus on Guadalajara 2011.

A year from now, Sisniega’s timeline suggests, COM’s focus could shift again, this time to Guadalajara 2018.

Written by Matthew Grayson.