Now, on to the Olympics
Canada’s athletes have soared to unprecedented heights at the 2015 Pan American Games — but they’re not the only winners. Toronto has earned a golden reputation as a host city skilled at running a massive, international multi-sport event. The logical next step is to capitalize on that triumph with a bid for the 2024 Summer Olympic Games.
After five failed efforts to host the Olympics, Torontonians are all too familiar with the sting of rejection. But the Pan Ams could, quite literally, be a game-changer. Chances of a successful bid have never been greater. And it would be a shame to walk away now, without even venturing to reach for the Olympic prize.
Canada’s athletes aren’t so easily dissuaded from their goals. Otherwise they wouldn’t have produced the outstanding results evident at these home-town Pan Am Games.
There have been far too many inspiring performances, nail-biting finishes and jubilant wins to detail here. But memorable Pan Am moments include sprinter Andre De Grasse carrying the Canadian flag after winning the 100-metre and 200-metre races; Canada’s women scoring a historic gold medal win in basketball; Halifax gymnast Ellie Black’s amazing five-medal haul, including three golds; and Canada’s one-two finish in mountain biking with Emily Batty pedalling to gold and teammate Catharine Pendrel collecting silver.
The Games aren’t over. Key events are yet to come, including some major track and field showdowns. But Canada has already secured its medal-count goal of finishing second in the hemisphere, behind the powerhouse United States. Our athletes have mined more gold than in any previous Pan Am appearance, and they’ve laid down a firm foundation for success at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.
It’s worth noting that Rio hosted the Pan Am Games before securing the Olympics. And Toronto might well do the same. A key shortcoming undermining this city’s previous Olympic bids was the fact it had virtually no experience in running major, multi-sport international competitions.
No one can make that criticism now. The 2015 Toronto Pan American Games were delivered on time and on budget. More than 6,000 athletes from 41 nations were successfully welcomed for the largest multi-sport competition ever held in Canada.
Although ticket sales took a while to ramp up, one million were ultimately sold, with many venues filled, especially for medal events. Crowds were loud, enthusiastic and emotional with several athletes crediting a remarkable outpouring of home-country support for helping to push them through to victory.
Games-related traffic slow-downs proved manageable. And the Toronto region received a wealth of badly needed sports infrastructure — facilities that will provide an invaluable training ground for Canada’s athletes of the future.
Ten impressive new venues have been built for these games, including a huge aquatics centre and field house in Scarborough featuring two Olympic-length swimming pools. Another15 existing sports facilities have been significantly upgraded. Other accomplishments include opening the direct rail link between Union Station and Pearson International Airport, expanded GO Train service, and creation of a modern mixed-use neighbourhood from buildings now serving as the athletes’ village.
Few, if any, of these projects would have been delivered by now if not for the motivation and deadlines imposed by hosting the Pan Am Games. Welcoming the world for the 2024 Olympics would produce even greater incentives to get Toronto moving. It could transform the city’s derelict port lands in relatively short order, energize the local economy, and spotlight Toronto on the global stage.
The International Olympic Committee has set a deadline of Sept. 15 to receive letters of application for the 2024 Games, so there’s still time to act. Acceptable bidders will have until early next year to submit detailed concepts, and the winner will be announced in 2017.
This is an opportunity that mustn’t be missed. There’s no spectacle on Earth quite like the Olympics. In hosting the Pan Am Games in the outstanding way it has, Toronto has dared to dream big. Now it should dream even bigger.
Having virtually no experience in running big ticket, multi-sport international competitions marred Toronto’s previous Olympic bids. No one can make that criticism now