The Paris Summer Olympics begin a week from tomorrow, on July 26. And I’m very much looking forward to it. I covered the Olympic Games for the Toronto Star for many, many years, including both of Toronto’s failed bids to stage the Games and then Vancouver’s successful gamble for the 2010 Winter Olympics I also was in Sydney, Salt Lake City, Athens, Turin, Beijing and Vancouver to cover the Games in person. I haven’t covered any Olympics since then, but it remains a magical event that I tune into when I can. This year’s Games will be especially cool because Read more
Olympic Games
Air Canada has renewed its partnership with the Canadian Olympic and Paralympic Committees until 2030. It also has unveiled a special new Boeing 777 with special decorations and Go Canada Go message. Air Canada will transport more than 1,000 Team Canada athletes and delegation members to the upcoming Games, showcasing the airline’s ongoing commitment to connecting the best of Canada with the world. The new agreement extends through the 2030 Winter Games, including Paris 2024, Cortina d’Ampezzo-Milan for the 2026 Winter Games and the 2028 Summer Games in Los Angeles, and also the 2030 Winter Olympics. Air Canada has been the Official Airline Read more
You can set your watch by it. Every time an Olympic Games year rolls around, out come the stories about over-priced tickets and soaring hotel prices. I was the main Olympics reporter for the Toronto Star for 15 years or so, and I’ve seen it happen time and time again, from Vancouver to Athens and Sydney to Salt Lake City. Now it’s Paris’s turn to take the brunt of the criticism. The New York Times reports that tickets for the Opening Ceremonies, which will feature a flotilla of barges carrying athletes down the River Seine to the foot of the Read more
The CBC says four First Nations, along with the municipalities of Vancouver and Whistler, have signed an agreement with the Canadian Olympic and Paralympic committees to start exploring the feasibility of hosting the 2030 Winter Games in British Columbia. The agreement, announced in a written statement on Tuesday, means officials from the Lil̓wat7úl (Líl̓wat), xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish) and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) nations, along with the mayors of Vancouver and Whistler will work with the Olympic and Paralympic committees to assess the possibility of making a bid. There are few countries willing or able to make winter Olympic bids these days, which means Vancouver/Whistler Read more
For six straight Olympic Games, from Sydney in 2000 to Vancouver in 2010, I was the Toronto Star’s Olympics editor/organizer on the ground. I would get our credentials and housing set up and then, on the ground, coordinate our assignments for the reporters and make sure everyone had what they needed to get the job done, including getting media tickets from the Canadian Olympic Committee to cover the big events that had limited media seating. I also would write most of our web stories, usually off a television set in the Media Centre, where I spent 99% of my time. Read more
