On the Scene-- Sneak Peek at Vancouver Venues

(ATR) With the less than a month before the Winter Games, workers are preparing venues to host the 2010 Olympics.

More than 100 journalists from 14 countries received a sneak peek at Olympic venues on Wednesday. Journalists saw preparations at the Richmond Olympic Oval, the speedskating venue, Vancouver Olympic Centre, which will host curling and the Whistler Olympic Park, home of Nordic events.

Icing at Richmond Olympic Oval and Vancouver Olympic Centre

Even the slightest frost on ice can mean the difference between Olympic glory or endless disappointment.

Ice installation is underway at the Richmond Olympic Oval. Oval ice technician Mark Messer is monitoring the dust, temperature and humidity to make sure conditions are uniform on the 400-metre speedskating track.

VANOC ready to host the world.

All venues will be ready for the Winter Olympics.

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The large north-facing windows were covered by look of the Games murals to give TV cameras consistent artificial lighting. Athletes begin arriving Jan. 3 and The first competition is Feb. 13.

Ice making at Olympic Centre begins Feb. 5 at the Vancouver Olympic Centre. Technicians will make four ice sheets for curling before the first competition on Feb. 16.

VANOC has taken steps to prevent rainwater on spectators’ jackets from causing frost on the ice at both venues. Frost can slow the progress of athletes or stones.

The venues sport different ways of attacking the frost problem. Spectators arriving at the Oval will go through a temporary, double-door concourse before entering the building. The curling venue has a ventilation system at its ceiling to ensure evaporated moisture doesn’t land on the ice.

“We work real hard to make sure that it doesn’t circulate and come down on the ice surface,” VOC general manager Brian Eaton told Around the Rings. “We haven’t had 6,000 peopleand pouring rain to test everything out fully. Feb. 16 is our first day of competition and that will be our last major test.”

Whistler venue tours

The sound of spectators will overwhelm the hum of Aggreko diesel generators in three weeks at the Whistler Olympic Park.

Around 12,000 spectators a day are expected to witness Nordic events at Whistler, which sits in

Callaghan Valley where 12,000 spectators a day will witness nordic competitions at the Whistler Olympic Park. Twenty-eight of the Games’ 86 medals will be awarded in ski jumping, nordic combined, cross-country skiing and biathlon.

Workers are making last-minuteadjustments to overlay.

Since August, crews have installed 280 modulesof trailers and 100,000 square feet of tent space.

There are 255,000 square feet of temporary overlay facilities at the Cheakamus Crossing site of the Whistler Olympic Village, including a massive 43,000 square dining tent with a McDonald’s and counters for Asian and Italian cuisine. Service begins Jan. 23 and athletes arrive Feb. 4.

“Everyday I walk into this venue there’s something different, today it’s the scrim all along the fence lines,” general manager Tim Morrison said during the media tour.

Cooks will dish up 11,000 meals a day, Morrison said. Athletes will be able to learn more about the nutritional content of every morsel of food by entering their daily intake details online.

Onsite medical facilities can provide chiropractic, dental, podiatry and orthotics care. Everything but an in-patient ward and elective surgery is offered, said VANOC medical director Dr. Mike Wilkinson.

The temporary mini-hospital includes a $4 million GE-provided mobile surgical unit that will by 171 certified volunteer doctors, nurses, therapists and administrators. The facility could handle up to100 patients at a time.

An unmanned balloon with a surveillance camera watches over the Olympic Park that is next to a Games-time Canadian military camp.

An obelisk in the courtyard appears to be near a natural gas line, spurring rumors that it is a remote Olympic flame cauldron. An identical obelisk is on the Vancouver Olympic Village site at the international plaza.

Written by Bob Mackin in Vancouver.

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