Foreign athletes are getting fair acess to 2010 venues for training: Vanoc
By Jeff Lee, VANCOUVER SUNSeptember 21, 2009 5:02 PM
The organizers of the Vancouver Olympics rejected accusations Monday that they are denying foreign athletes fair access to training at the 2010 venues.
Cathy Priestner, executive vice-president of games operations for the Vancouver Organizing Committee, said nations have been given more training time than at most recent Olympics.
With all of the sporting venues completed two years in advance — unprecedented in recent Olympic memory — competitors have had lots of time to practise on them, Priestner said.
“We believe we’ve accommodated them very well. We got the venues done early, giving athletes access early. We’ve exceeded what the international requirements are, and with training weeks and world cups we have provided more access than what is required.”
Priestner said complaints of favouritism are common at the Olympics as competing nations seek every edge they can. She heard the same kinds of concerns from other countries when she was the director of sport for the 2002 Salt Lake Games. “This is not new at all.”
Canadian newspapers carried complaints from Dutch and Chinese speed skaters in March. On Monday, the New York Times revisited athletes’ concerns, particularly those of Americans, who said Canada had breached an agreement for equal access.
John Furlong, Vanoc’s chief executive, weighed in, noting that the Americans used home-field advantage in 2002 to outperform in some sports.
“It is standard for the home country to have home field advantage and we will have that in Vancouver,” he said. “There is a set of rules that govern who can get on to the venues and we live exactly by those rules. The same situation applied exactly in Salt Lake City in 2002, where the American team was given good access to the facilities as they should. And in sports where they would have no tradition at all to be successful in, they won all the medals.”
He noted that the U.S. went into Salt Lake “expecting no medals” in sliding sports and won seven, elevating the U.S. to first place in the Games.
“It’s important we give our athletes the best chance to be successful because they are responsible for generating the atmosphere. I think that’s what the public wants and there is nothing unsportsmanlike about helping to prepare your own team and to give them the best chance. They (competing nations) are getting fair access.”
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