Bobsleigh Begins Vancouver Olympics Countdown

(ATR) The countdown to the 2010 Olympics is started for the FIBT, the international federation for bobsleigh and skeleton. Meeting in Vancouver for the first time, the group visited the construction site of the track in Whistler.

On Saturday, delegates elected Canadian Bob Storey for a fourth term as president. While Ottawa-based, he's familiar with Vancouver as a shareholder in two radio stations and as a member of the international team that worked on Vancouver's winning bid.

Along with elections, the major development from the FIBT Congress is the decision to hold an extraordinary congress later this year, location to be determined.

Storey tells Around the Rings the purpose is "to coordinate both skeleton and bobsleigh so they're parallel and to make sure there's an equal structure for both sports."

With the return of skeleton to the Olympics starting with the 2002 Games, the profile of the discipline has escalated within the 60-member FIBT.

Speaking to ATR following the visit to the Whistler track, Storey says the venue could be a challenging one for 2010 athletes.

"Bobsled tracks are a bit like golf courses," he said.

"It's good to have golf courses where the winning score is 20-under par, it's also good to have ones that are one under par. This is going to be closer to one under par, we think. Calgary would be closer to the other point."

VANOC director of sliding sports Craig Lehto said construction remains on schedule for a late fall 2007 or early winter 2008 opening. He declined to discuss costs.

The Whistler track would be the 15th in the world and fourth in North America, after Lake Placid, N.Y., Calgary and Park City, Utah.

In other election results from the FIBT Congress:

Herbert Wey of Switzerland replaced Monaco's retiring Jean-Paul Samba as vice-president of corporate and financial affairs. Samba was made an honorary FIBT member along with Japan's Suguto Kitano, Latvia's Evgeny Kisiels and China's Chi You Hsu.

Other officers, elected for four-year terms, include Italy's Corrado Dal Fabbro (sport), USA's David Kurtz (international affairs), Germany's Stefan Krauss (marketing and events), U.K.'s Paul Pruszynski (communication) and Netherlands' Wiltfried Idema (legal affairs).