(ATR) The final year countdown is underway for the Vancouver Olympics, marked with a flurry of small-scale pageantry across the city.
The actual year to go moment of 6pm on Feb. 12 was officially commemorated by a crowd of about 1,000 packed into one end of the stunning Richmond Oval, which may be the trophy venue of these Games.
With intense cheerleading by MC and British Columbia Premier Gordon Campbell, the hour-long production included dancing youngsters, youth choirs, a parade of Olympians and anthems, Olympic and “O Canada”.
IOC President Jacques Rogge handed over the first four invitations to Vancouver to the leaders of four national Olympic committees: Michael Chambers of the Canadian Olympic Committee, Colin Moynihan of the British Olympic Association, Leonid Tyagachev of Russia and new U.S. Olympic Committee chairman Larry Probst.
Along with the outsized invitation, each of the NOC chiefs received a special Hudson’s Bay wool blanket, one of the most famous products of the Canadian retail firm and 2010 sponsor.
While the blankets were a new touch for the invitation ceremony, the traditional signing of the first invitations by the IOC President was missing.
Funding for this event came from office of Premier Campbell, not VANOC, which is pressed to hold the line on spending for extravagances such as year-to-go showcases at the Richmond Oval.
While the provincial government is the major stakeholder for financing of the Games, some veteran Vancouver journalists also note that Campbell faces an election in May. They say his heavy role in the countdown event helps put him in the spotlight ahead of the provincial elections.
Campbell’s staff assumed control of the event, but they underestimated the space needed by the 150 journalists from around the globe who covered the ceremony. Print reporters and television photographers jostled for space for more than an hour on crowded risers;no seating wasprovided.
For the USOC’s Probst, his appearance on the stage in Vancouver was his first public foray internationally on behalf of the USOC since becoming chairman in October.
“I thought it was a good day,” he told Around the Rings about his 24-hour visit to Vancouver. Probst says he met with Chambers and Moynihan for the first time, as well as Tyagachev.
“They were very complimentary about the U.S. We talked about things we could work on together, had some good discussions,” he said. And he said both are enthusiastic about the Chicago Olympic bid.
Other events on Feb. 12 included the unveiling of the Olympic torch in Whistler and a three-hour entertainment gala Thursday night.
Anti-Olympics activists also staged a torch relay of their own in downtown Vancouver, with no apparent impact on attendance at the Queen Elizabeth Theater.
Written by
Ed Hula
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