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≡ IOC VIEW 16 DAYS OUT ≡
“The Games are going to be incredible. I’m getting really, very excited about being able to get there and see the blend of tradition and innovation … the magnificent venues that are there.
“Really, I think the excitement is slowly building up and now it’s at a really good pace.”
That’s International Olympic Committee President Kirsty Coventry (ZIM), speaking to more than 200 reporters on a video call from Olympic House in Lausanne (SUI) on Wednesday morning.
Already in Italy, Olympic Games Executive Director Christophe Dubi (SUI) explained that the last couple of sites are getting close to completion, but not there yet. Speaking about the new sliding track in Cortina d’Ampezzo, he explained:
“Is there some work to be done? Yes. A lot.
“What I have been told, and I am no construction expert, right, but it’s not complex work, so anything that has to do with any of the systems, especially for the track refrigeration, electricity, timing, scoring: all this is in place. …
“What I saw, while walking, is still a lot of finishing touches, right. Some concrete pavement for additional tents, for hospitality, some ground work to get the venue ready for spectators, where currently it’s a bit patchy when you walk.
“But what I have been told, [the amount to be done] it’s impressive, but it’s not complex and they have a lot of people working. OK, it will be ready. No doubt, it will be ready … but canot deny work has to be done.
He was also asked about the PalaItalia Santa Giulia Arena, the primary ice hockey venue, which is racing to finish enough of the construction to be ready for Games:
“I was there yesterday, with the future co-owner and operator of the venue. First, when you come from outside … it’s going to be a landmark, OK. It’s a beautiful venue, very spectacular, LEDs all around, it will be amazing in terms of animation, including for spectators getting to the venue and waiting to get in the venue. Incredible.
“Now, same assessment as the sliding track. Work remains to be done. Hats off to all those who could pull up such a venue in so little time. You know, it was always a complex project, it started late, but this is where … when we speak of the great objectives of having the best conditions for the Games for the athletes, it means all hands on deck.
“Sixteen hundred workers a day in the venue, to get it ready. So that’s where we’re at. There as well, super confident.”
He was asked specifically what was being worked on now:
“Basically, works on the concourse, and the temporary works, which by nature, comes last minute, as usual. So, all the tents in which you have the locker rooms. I visited it yesterday again; about half of the locker rooms are ready to host the teams, the other ones will be ready in a matter of days. So when we start competitions, it will be ready, no problem with this, but yeah, they are still working, because it’s temporary.”
Coventry was asked about the future of the Games, especially after seeing the spread-out venue plan for Milan Cortina, with venues – well-known and existing world-class sites – spread out across northern Italy. She noted that this is a point of interest for the IOC:
“We’ve got to find a balance between sustainability and making decisions for sustainable reasons and the balance of experience for fans, for [National Olympic Committees], for athletes. If we look at how the model is set up today, I do believe that we took the right decision in having a more dispersed Games, but – and I think we can all say, openly and honestly – it has added additional complexities, right? For media, for transport, for the IOC, for [Olympic Broadcasting Services], for [National Olympic Committees] and so what I think we are already seeing and what we’re going to be able to learn from Milano Cortina, is at the end of the Games, we’ll be able to take these things and look at it and almost, somehow, maybe come up with a ‘cost’ if I can say it.
“You know, it added complexities, which potentially added this much vs. if we just have that [sports] discipline, what would that look like, right? We have to have those conversations; I think Milano Cortina is going to allow for us to have those conversations, those conversations are already being had in the Olympic Programme Working Group, because that is part of their remit is to look at the program, and when we look at the program, we start looking at sustainability, at disbursements of where the venues should be and what that should look like.
“It’s a much greater conversation, but I do think already now, we are seeing that it’s not just the sort of simple answer.”
She explained that the experience of a spread-out Games will be a positive in that it will allow the IOC to see the concept in practice and “allow for us to realign and adjust for the future.” She also pointed to the trust that athletes have in these sites that they are so familiar with from their seasonal World Cup circuits.
Dubi noted that with the opening ceremony spread across four locations, “you never had the skiers able to go to an Olympic opening ceremony. Never; it does not happen. This time around, being in Livigno, being in Cortina, being in Predazzo, the athletes will be able to walk.”
It was noted that more than a million tickets have been sold (about two-thirds of capacity), but that there are still some available.
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