VANCOUVER — The race to select the city which will host the 2014 Winter Games is being called a dead heat as it nears the finish line, but the man who spearheaded the effort to bring the Olympics to Vancouver says the final steps can be the most important.
John Furlong remembers the emotions he felt four years ago in Prague during the final hours before the International Olympic Committee awarded the 2010 Games to Vancouver. He knows what advice he'd offer as the three bid cities prepare to make their final presentations to the IOC session Wednesday in Guatemala City.
"Pour your soul into it," Furlong, chief executive officer of the Vancouver Olympic Games Organizing Committee (VANOC), said in an interview. "Give it absolutely everything you have, leaving nothing. Do not go home from your presentation and ask 'what if we had just done this?' Put everything you have into it."
Salzburg, Austria's renowned Alpine ski resort, the Russian Black Sea resort of Sochi and the South Korean city of Pyeongchang are all vying to host the 2014 Games. Both Salzburg and Pyeongchang lost when Vancouver was awarded the 2010 Games on July 2, 2003.
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No clear favourite has emerged from the three. A report by an IOC evaluation commission has rated the sports venues concepts of Pyeongchang and Salzburg as "excellent" and Sochi's as "very good."
Furlong said the final presentation each city makes to the IOC could be the deciding factor for many of the 102 members who are eligible to vote. The winning city needs to connect with the voters and convince them of it's sincerity in wanting to host the Games.
"I would very much suggest to them that the story you present to the Olympic family be a human one, that you really try to make people understand who you are, where you are from.
"I don't think anybody doubts that any of these three cities could put on a Winter Olympic Games. It's really coming down to showing the kind of humanity you have, the people you have, the courage, the team work."
Furlong was in Singapore when London beat out Paris to host the 2012 Summer Olympics, largely on the strength of its final presentation.
"The London presentation was very surprising," Furlong said. "It was very emotional, it was very human. I think going into the vote the runaway favourite was Paris."
After spending $34 million and travelling thousands of miles, Vancouver won the right to host the 2010 Games by beating out Pyeongchang by just three votes in the second ballot. On the first ballot, Pyeongchang got 51 votes, just three short of victory, Vancouver received 40 and Salzburg 16.
The delegation making Vancouver's final presentation included former prime minister Jean Chretien, who had flown overnight to reach Prague in time, B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell, hockey great Wayne Gretzky and Olympic gold medallist speed skater Catriona Le May Doan. All the delegates carried "lucky loonies" in their pockets.
"It was quite a tension-filled day," said Furlong. "We had come such a long way. We worked so hard.
"I was confident we would win because I felt we had given so much of ourselves. When you look the process and realize at some point in the day people are going to press a button and pick a winner, you never are really sure."
Vancouver's presentation featured video images of green rain forests and big city buildings, as well as skiers on slopes in Whistler and kayaks on English Bay. It was set to a soundtrack by Vancouver native Bryan Adams.
The Koreans scored points with a slick presentation that focused on how winning the 2010 Olympics would help promote peace and stability on the Korea Peninsula.
Salzburg's presentation emphasized Austria's winter sports history and the city's rich cultural history. Its presenters included Olympic skiing champion Hermann Maier, who said Salzburg would be the athletes' choice.
Pyeongchang nearly stealing the Games from Vancouver came as a surprise. Furlong doubts if the bid experience of the Korean city or Salzburg will be a factor in Guatemala.
"There's a lot of changes and new people in the IOC," he said. "Time changes a lot of things.
"I think it's wide open. There's no one walking around saying there is a runaway leader. I think that's good."
Furlong and other VANOC members will attend the meetings in Guatemala to give the IOC an update on Vancouver's progress toward hosting the 2010 Games.
"It's a business meeting for us," he said. "We have to report to both the executive board and the IOC sessions.
"We'll be giving them a progress report on where we are on a number of things. We'll use the days that we are there to fully engage with key IOC people and staff."
Personally, Furlong doesn't have a favourite about who is awarded the 2014 Games.
"I think the decision will be the right one whoever it is," he said.
"I know for us, once the winner is declared, we will immediately offer to be helpful and provide them with anything that we can to help them get off to a good start and help them to be successful."
