VANOC completes operational testing at World Wheelchair Curling Championship. Sport event marked first Paralympic championship held at a Vancouver 2010 venue

Vancouver, BC– The Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (VANOC) successfully completed its operational testing today at the World Wheelchair Curling Championship sport event at the Vancouver Olympic/Paralympic Centre.

The international competition, which ran from February 21 to 28, marked a series of firsts: the first Paralympic sport event VANOC has tested, the first event held at the newly opened curling venue and the first World Wheelchair Curling Championship held in Canada.

“This is an incredible venue that supports the accessibility needs of both athletes and spectators.  The planners did a great job. As a result, the athletes can concentrate on the competition and their performance. Everyone will have a great experience here during the Games and in the accessible community centre that will be left as a legacy,” said Jim Armstrong, skip of the Canadian wheelchair curling team.

Fifty athletes from 10 countries competed at the championship, while VANOC tested its operational readiness to host wheelchair curling at the Vancouver 2010 Paralympic Winter Games.

“This competition was a great opportunity for the world’s best wheelchair curlers to test the ice and rocks where they’ll be competing in 2010,” said Jan Damnavits, VANOC’s director of event services and venue management. “We’ve had great feedback from athletes and spectators alike, especially in the area of accessibility at the venue. But a key to our operational testing success this week was the enthusiasm of our hundreds of volunteers.”

VANOC focused its operational testing on the following areas: ice maintenance, venue systems and spectator and athlete accessibility.

Field of Play

VANOC concentrated on testing the ice and ice maintenance in order to provide a suitable field of play meeting the athletes’ high standards. Proper ice preparation was extremely important as the venue will host just two sport events prior to the Games. Operational adjustments were made to the building’s heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) system to strike a balance between keeping the air in the venue warm enough for spectators and cold enough for optimum ice sheets for curling. The ice, created under the direction of world-renowned ice technicians Hans Wuthrich and Dave Merklinger, became “keener” (faster) as the championship progressed because this balance was achieved.

The water system, tested for quality and flow rate, worked well, as did the blades on the ice scrapers that were brought in specifically for this event. The state-of-the-art “Eye on the Ice” monitoring system operated effectively to ensure ice technicians were able to monitor all systems.

VANOC also tested new competition curling stones featuring two different running surfaces that will be used by both wheelchair and able-bodied curlers during the Vancouver 2010 Winter Games. The new stones are “aggressive,” meaning they curl a lot, which is consistent with all new stones. These stones will be used at other major events over the next year, thereby smoothing out their surface for optimal use during Games-time competitions.

Venue Operations

Accessible seating was used by a number of spectators over the week-long competition. The layout worked well and VANOC has developed additional ideas to improve accessibility in time for the Games, including the addition of more than a dozen accessible washrooms, more than tripling the accessible seating capacity and providing accessible shuttle service to and from nearby TransLink and SkyTrain stops. The venue has the largest seating capacity for wheelchair curling in Paralympic Winter Games history.

A workforce of approximately 600 (including around 400 volunteers) consisted of technical sport volunteers and event services personnel, along with other groups including food and beverage services, sport production, transport and parking staff. Workforce training was highly attended, demonstrating the volunteers’ excitement at being involved in the event.

Workforce check-in went smoothly using electronic scanners. Games-time readiness was put to the test when a scheduled power outage on the training day for the event led workforce to process volunteer and staff check-ins manually with no disruption.

In keeping with previous sport events, VANOC tested its timing, scoring and results, medical services and sport production functions – all of which ran smoothly.

Next week, from March 5 to 15, the Vancouver Olympic/Paralympic Centre will hold the World Junior Curling Championships.

For more information on sport events taking place from March to September 2009, including how to purchase tickets, visit www.vancouver2010.com. Remaining pre-Olympic sport events include:

IPC Cross-Country Skiing and Biathlon World Cup Final
Date: March 4-7, 2009
Location: Whistler Paralympic Park, Whistler

World Junior Curling Championships
Date: March 5-15, 2009
Location: Vancouver Olympic Centre, Vancouver

IPC Alpine Skiing World Cup Finals
Date: March 9-14, 2009
Location: Whistler Creekside, Whistler

IBU Biathlon World Cup
Date: March 11-15, 2009
Location: Whistler Olympic Park

ISU World Single Distances Speed Skating Championships
Date: March 12-15, 2009
Location: Richmond Olympic Oval, Richmond

Hockey Canada Cup – Women’s Hockey
Date: August 31-September 6, 2009

Location: UBC Thunderbird Arena and Canada Hockey Place, Vancouver

About VANOC

VANOC is responsible for the planning, organizing, financing and staging of the XXI Olympic Winter Games and the X Paralympic Winter Games in 2010. The 2010 Olympic Winter Games will be staged in Vancouver and Whistler from February 12 to 28, 2010. Vancouver and Whistler will host the 2010 Paralympic Winter Games from March 12 to 21, 2010. Visit www.vancouver2010.com.

Contact
VANOC Communications
mediarelations@vancouver2010.com