(ATR) An around the clock push to get ready is nearly finished for Whistler, host village for snow and sliding events for the 2010 Games, just five days away.
Entire parking lots have been turned into temporary tent cities, where massive white marquees will host a variety of media and hospitality venues for the duration of the Games.
All around town, street-side fences have been covered with flowing banners of the 'swishing' blue, green and white Vancouver 2010 artwork.
Stages are being put together in the Village Square, at the Celebration Plaza where entertainers will perform in front of 5000-plus spectators every evening. And all throughout Whistler, big white snowbanks and tall trees covered in thousands of sparkling lights will greet night-time visitors into town, boosting the festive flavor for the Games.
On the transportation front, road closures, almost zero parking availability and security checkpoints have thrown a wrench into the normal commuter routines of Whistler residents. Some aren't happy, but others see the new bus fleet and transportation network as a necessary part of staging the Games.
Buoyed by a record-breaking snowfall, where more than 33 feet has fallen in the mountains so far this season, locals are now starting to feel the true Olympicbuzz in their town.
Storefronts and windows of Whistler businesses are covered in patriotic displays of red and white, encouraging their hometown heroes to go for the gold.
Bars, restaurants and retailers are bracing for Christmas-like numbers, anticipating more than 50,000 visitors strolling the village every day. One tour operator is hoping that the Olympic rush will offset the effects of the Olympic aversion -- peoplewho decide not to go to Whistler because the Games are underway.
“We're forecasting a pretty busy time for all of our tours and programs,” says Christine Young, office manager at Outdoor Adventures, one of Whistler's largest tour operators.
“We expect to be at 100 percent capacity for all of our tours. We've already booked many corporate outings and the response from general tourists has been high.”
With popular Canadian-style tours such as dog sledding and snowshoeing, Young sees a busy time for all in the upcoming month.
“Our international visitors are definitely interested in seeing what Whistler has to offer in terms of getting out there into nature and on the mountains. It's a very exciting time for all of us.”
Written by Todd Lawson in Whistler.
Últimas Noticias
Sinner-Alcaraz, the duel that came to succeed the three phenomenons
Beyond the final result, Roland Garros left the feeling that the Italian and the Spaniard will shape the great duel that came to help us through the duel for the end of the Federer-Nadal-Djokovic era.
Table tennis: Brazil’s Bruna Costa Alexandre will be Olympic and Paralympic in Paris 2024
She is the third in her sport and the seventh athlete to achieve it in the same edition; in Santiago 2023 she was the first athlete with disabilities to compete at the Pan American level and won a medal.
Rugby 7s: the best player of 2023 would only play the medal match in Paris
Argentinian Rodrigo Isgró received a five-game suspension for an indiscipline in the circuit’s decisive clash that would exclude him until the final or the bronze match; the Federation will seek to make the appeal successful.
Rhonex Kipruto, owner of the world record for the 10000 meters on the road, was suspended for six years
The Kenyan received the maximum sanction for irregularities in his biological passport and the Court considered that he was part of a system of “deliberate and sophisticated doping” to improve his performance. He will lose his record and the bronze medal at the Doha World Cup.
Katie Ledecky spoke about doping Chinese swimmers: “It’s difficult to go to Paris knowing that we’re going to compete with some of these athletes”
The American, a seven-time Olympic champion, referred to the case of the 23 positive controls before the Tokyo Games that were announced a few weeks ago and shook the swimming world. “I think our faith in some of the systems is at an all-time low,” he said.
