Pan Am Update - Guadalajara Delivers Guarantee, Toronto Starts CEO Search

Guadalajara Delivers $50 Million Guarantee to PASO

Organizers of the 2011 Pan American Games gave their financial guarantee to the Pan American Sports Organization for construction of the Pan Am Village.

PASO informed organizers of the Guadalajara 2011 on Tuesday that it received a $50 million bond for the Pan Am Village. PASO said it would seek weekly progress updates on the Village.

PASO says the bond "represents an important step in the joint efforts of PASO, the federal, state and city governments, the Organizing Committee and the Mexican Olympic Committee."

The site of the village has been one of the major problems for Games that are scheduled for Oct. 13-Oct. 30 of 2011. At the PASO General Assembly earlier this month, bid leaders moved the site of the village from downtown Guadalajara to the northwest suburb of Zapopan after pressure from PASO President Mario Vazquez Rana.

The village awaits a building permit while it faces an environmental impact study. There are concerns by many about runoff at the village site and if the site can handle high-density housing. Local leaders said they would like to have the village in the area but only if it is sustainable.

COPAG Searches for New Stadium Site

With less than 23 months until the 2011 Pan American Games, COPAG is looking for a new stadium site after cancelling construction of the stadium last week.

Officials halted stadium construction after storm water runoff made construction impractical. The stadium was set to be built near the Pan Am Village

COPAG Chairman Carlos Andrade said a new stadium can be constructed in period of six months once a new site is determined.

"We are seeking the ground. We are looking at many options, viewing the state government and I will indicate where to build them," said Chairman of Organizing Committee for the 2011 Pan American Carlos Andrade told new agency EFE last week.

Test Events for Gudalajara

COPAG plans 13 test events throughout 2010 to get ready for the 2011 Pan Ams.

Possible sports include diving, badminton, beach volleyball, equestrian (jumping), artistic gymnastics, rhythmic gymnastics and trampoline, archery, softball, triathlon, sailing, athletics, cycling (track), football and field hockey.

According to the trial calendar, the sporting events will start in March and continue throughout the year. October is expected to be the busiest month with six events followed by May with two.

"The events that took place in 2009 had a positive balance and they were all made with the utmost seriousness and commitment to the norms of the Pan American Games," said Valentin Yanes, assistant director of technical area sports for COPAG. "The quality increases as we approach the event and in some cases we lift them to world-class championship level."

2011 Mascot Decided

After a national design competition, COPAG will unveil the mascot for Guadalajara 2011 on Saturday. The design competition included 1,519 total registrations with 720 covering all the requirements.

CEO Search for Toronto 2015

The Canadian Olympic Committee will lead the search for a CEO for the Toronto 2015 Pan American Games.

Toronto 2015 is making the transition from a bidding group to a host organization after the city won the rights to host the Pan Am Games on Nov. 6. In addition to looking for a CEO, Toronto 2015 plans to form a 12-member board of directors by the end of the year.

COC retained search-firm Odgers Berndtson to look for CEO candidates. A search committee formed by members from the new board will make the final selection.

The Toronto 2015 bid was led by chairman David Peterson and Jagoda Pike who served as president and CEO. After Toronto won the Games, Peterson returned to his full-time role as chancellor of the University of Toronto while Pike is expected to move back into the private sector.

Toronto beat out Bogota, Columbia and Lima, Peru to host the Games after voting at the PASO General Assembly in Guadalajara. Toronto won 33 votes, Lima received 11 and Bogota had seven.

Media Watch

Toronto 2015 bid member Barry Avrich give his insight on how Toronto won the Games.

Written by Sam Steinberg.