Olympic Village makes home pampered for athletes in Vancouver

VANCOUVER — Allison Baver's fifth-floor flat at the Winter Olympics comes with two masseuses on call, a chiropractor, access to a rooftop garden with sweeping views of the city and a private lounge where big-screen televisions stream live coverage from every Olympic venue.
If the 29-year-old U.S. speedskater, whose short-track relay team won the bronze Wednesday, didn't have to compete, there'd be no reason to leave.

This is the Reading, Pa., athlete's third Winter Games, but she says life in this Olympic Village — home to the 2,760 skaters, curlers, hockey players, coaches, trainers and officials — is better than good.

"When you are away from home, at a competition like this, you want everything to be as simple as possible," Baver said. "The Canadians have really raised the bar."


U.S. MEDALS TRACKER: Recap every medal won by the Americans

For most who now occupy the $1.1 billion complex of sleek condos on the banks of False Creek, the village is just that — an exclusive retreat for exclusive residents to eat, rest and prepare for the competition ahead.

There is a giant dining hall that caters to every taste and dietary regime. Here, pro hockey players mingle with their amateur colleagues.

"I was sitting with some of our women's hockey players when they spotted (Canadian star) Sidney Crosby," U.S. village spokesman Keith Bryant said. "They were going, 'Hey, that's Sid! That's Sid!' "

There also are shops, a cafe, full-service training center, bank, post office and a billion-dollar view of the city's skyline across the water. And most of the services don't cost the athletes a single Canadian loonie. Similar accommodations exist at a separate village in Whistler for the athletes competing in the mountains.

Nejat Sarp, who oversees operations at both villages, said the communities deliver on two central themes planners identified more than four years ago.

"The first priority was to minimize stress," said Sarp, a former hotel executive. "Then we said, 'Let's create a home.' "

Few average homeowners, however, can boast of the comforts here.

For example, Sarp said, 100 mattresses were tested before a winner was chosen. Each is dressed in 250-thread-count bedding and topped with a goose-down duvet.

"In the city, we wanted to create an urban oasis; in the mountains, an alpine escape. We think we have achieved that."

Although formally designated as Olympic "venues," the villages are places few non-athletes will ever see.

Since the massacre of 11 Israeli athletes and coaches at the 1972 Summer Games in Munich, the villages have been among the most secure locations at every Olympic Games since.

It is no different here. There are layers of fencing, a network of surveillance cameras and officer patrols.

But Baver said nothing about the security apparatus has spoiled the experience.

The U.S. residences — there are about 190 people in the downtown delegation — are in the "ideal" location, Baver said.

"We're about a half-block to the gym and a half-block to the dining hall," she said. "When you are skating every day, you've got to save your legs."

For Bryant, too, there are some perks. When he twisted an ankle the other day, the doctor who tended to him was former Olympic champion Eric Heiden, part of the U.S. medical staff.

"VANOC (the Vancouver Olympic Organizing Committee) is going to have to kick us out of here when this is over," Bryant said.

Source:usatoday.com/