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Creating the Right Environment for Athletes

While we focus our attention on Canadian athletes, Whistler wants to welcome and support athletes from around the world during the Games and beyond.

With the competition venues completed so early, there are opportunities to train and compete in Whistler well in advance of the Games. Nine sport events before 2010 bring international athletes to Whistler, providing them the opportunity to get to know the community, participate in home stays and prepare for the Games.

The municipality is a partner in the Whistler Legacies Society (WLS), which will own, manage and operate Whistler Olympic Park, The Whistler Sliding Centre, and the Whistler Athletes Centre.

All three venues will aid Whistler in becoming a centre of excellence for the development of sport and international-level competition.

“The opportunity to use the Whistler Athletes Centre post Games means the club will be able to bring Whistler's gymnasts to the next level.”

— Catou Crookshank, Coach, Whistler gymnastics club

While VANOC has built the three venues and will operate them through the Games, WLS will be responsible for post-Games operations. Helping to ensure WLS can meet its mandate is the $110-million Games Operating Trust, an endowment funded equally by the Government of Canada and the Province of British Columbia. Earnings from the trust will be an important source of revenue to help offset operating costs at Whistler Olympic Park and The Whistler Sliding Centre (as well as the Richmond Oval).

The WLS is working closely with VANOC to develop business plans for the venues. In addition, the municipality is working closely with WLS and VANOC in the planning and delivery of the Whistler Athletes Centre, located in the Whistler Athletes Village.

During the Games, the Whistler Athletes Centre will be a training facility for Olympic and Paralympic athletes. Post Games, the 18,000-square-foot facility will include a gymnasium, weight-training area, change rooms, offices and a classroom.

As a legacy for athletic development, the Athletes Centre will be used for everything from elite athlete training to a public fitness facility, including use by the community gymnastics club.
The municipality contributed $3.65 million to the gymnastics facility and landscaping for this project, to contribute to the community legacy.

Catou Crookshank is coach of the Whistler gymnastics club, which has 250 members and continues to grow. She says, “The opportunity to use the Whistler Athletes Centre post Games means the club will be able to bring Whistler's gymnasts to the next level and offer enough hours to attract elite coaches. Currently, Whistler's competitive gymnasts compete against athletes with twice the number of training hours in the gym.”

Key Deliverables

Whistler Legacies Society Participation
WLS Business Plans for Whistler Legacy Venues
Whistler Athletes Centre Participation
Pre-Games Sport Event Engagement

WHAT IS THE WHISTLER LEGACIES SOCIETY?

The Whistler Legacies Society (WLS) will own, manage and operate Whistler Olympic Park, The Whistler Sliding Centre and the Whistler Athletes Centre post Games. VANOC built the three venues and will operate them through the Games, after which ownership will be transferred to WLS.

The WLS board of directors is comprised of:

Resort Municipality of Whistler
Province of British Columbia
Lil'wat Nation
Squamish Nation
Canadian Olympic Committee
Canadian Paralympic Committee
VANOC

The goal of the WLS is to help the venues become economically sustainable and ultimately to aid Whistler in becoming a centre for excellence for sport development and competition.

The venues will be available to the full spectrum of athletic endeavours – from recreational sport groups to high-performance athletes – throughout B.C., across Canada and around the world.