The Premier of the Province of British Columbia, which will host the Olympics-2010, headed the Canadian delegation in the United States presenting the upcoming Winter Games. He shared his forecast of the ice-hockey final in Vancouver, talked about other Canadian Olympic bets and pledged his support for the next Games in Sochi - in an interview with Dmitry Gornostaev, RIA Novosti New York Bureau Chief.
- Mr. Campbell, the Olympic torch is traveling across Canada these days with British Columbia being the final destination of the relay. Indeed, the Olympic Games have already started for your country. So, what do you consider to be the most important event of the Olympics?
- The most important event is the opening of the Games. And the reason for that is that it’s when the people suddenly realize what the Olympics can do. It brings the whole world together around common goals and common objectives. It brings down barriers that tend to separate us. It says “We’re all one! We’re all going to strive to be the best we can be in the Games!” I think the opening is the most important event.
- As a Canadian, you will probably be cheering the most for your own hockey team at the Games. What do you expect from the ice hockey tournament?
- If you’re asking me “Do I hope Canada wins hockey gold?” the answer is “Yes.” I met with Alex Ovechkin in Turin, and after they already had been awarded the Sochi games. I’m sure that Alex will be an important part of your Olympic team. We’ll have Sidney Crosby as part of our team. Both have great teams, so do the United States. So, I think it will be a very good hockey tournament this year.
- Who do you predict to play in the final?
- I don’t know what the draw will be. My bet is that it will be Canada and the United States, or Canada and Russia, or Russia and the United States. That would be my bet right now, but I don’t follow the international, I don’t know how the Finnish team is doing this year or where the Swedes are. Swedes won gold in 2006, Canada was a little disappointed in 2006. There will be four or five narrow-horse teams. That’s why we expect a great tournament. It’s always better when it’s a great tournament among the best.
And in women’s hockey I think the final will likely be between Canada and the United States. And of course, I hope that Canada will win in women’s hockey. I want everyone to come to the Games, I want all of them to do their best. I want Canada to win as many gold medals as possible.
- What are your other bets for Canada?
- Speed-skating. We have a very good speed-skating team in Canada. Cindy Klassen was a multiple medalist in Turin. And of course, Denny Morrison, who is from our province. He has been moving up the world records and we’re hoping for him to get a gold for his team. Generally, it’s a very good team in speed-skating.
I think we have a chance to get some medals in skiing. The ski team has really improved. Both of our hockey teams. In curling, I think, we have a very good chance. And cross-country skiing, we have very good strong cross-country skiers.
As soon as you get awarded at Games, the talent rises to the top. And I’m sure that’s what you’ll find in Sochi. You will find a whole new batch of incredible athletes, they will inspire the new generation of athletes. And that’s of course, we all hope.
- What was the most difficult in preparing for the Winter Olympics? Building facilities?
- I said it in 2003 - when we were rewarded the games - that we won the first gold medal for the 2010 Winter Olympics. And the second gold medal has got to go to all the workers, the men and the women, who actually built the facilities. This is the first Winter Olympics in the history, where all the facilities are built a year before they were needed for the Olympics.
We have some spectacular facilities. The speed-skating oval has the largest wood-made roof, a million board feet of pine. When people walk in there, they are just awestruck by the beauty of the building.
It wasn’t the venues as much as taking full advantage of what the Olympics offers us. It does offer us an opportunity to think about what we have in common, it does offer us a way to inspire young people who have all the way to do better. It inspires all of us to raise our games, just as athletes raised their games, artists raised their games – it’s really a unifier between what we call first nations or aboriginal people and non-aboriginal people. Our organizing committee over-exceeded expectations, it set high goals and exceeded. And we hope to do that for February 2010.
- Are you going to share some of your Olympic technologies and your experience with the Sochi Games?
- Oh, we would be glad to! One of the really encouraging things about the Olympics is that it does encourage you as a part of the Olympic family… Sochi is part of the Olympic family. So, I talked to the members of your Organizing committee – anything I can do to help them to be the best, to break the record of the Vancouver Games. This is about all of us – being better. Although I’m going to cheer for Canada in the hockey game, but I want every team to be the best they can be. I’m going to cheer for Vancouver to do the best Winter Olympic ever but that is the case. Then we’ll also be cheering for the next games to be even better than this one. It’s not something that stands still, it’s something we all have to strive for. And that’s for me what the Olympics are about – striving to be your best: reaching higher, being stronger, going faster. Doing this together and seeing that there’s a common purpose behind us.
New York
