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http://www.sportsfeatures.com/PressPoint/show.php?id=19072 January 15, 2005
TOROC
Turin Olympics: European Championships - A Test Bench for the TOROC
TOROC
Turin Olympics: European Championships - A Test Bench for the TOROC
Two Sport Events to try out the staff, the services and the organisation
(14/01/2005) – (Torino, January 14TH 2005) – With 392 days to go to the Opening Ceremony of the Olympic Games, the TOROC is getting ready to test its organisation, services and the ice rink facility of the Palavela. On the occasion of the European short track and figure skating championships, all the TOROC functions will be called on to directly handle the activities, the same activities they will have to manage next year during the period of the Games. Some 1000 people will be involved, including TOROC personnel, contractors (personnel of the supplier companies) and volunteers. It will be the first occasion, in fact, for the people who have joined the Noi2006 programme to become protagonists.ACCREDITATION:Two accreditation centres will be active. One for the media at the Palavela, and one at the Lingotto for the groups that will be members of the Olympic Family during the Games (athletes, staff, volunteers, guests, federations and sponsors). The accreditation provided at the Lingotto will be for the two European Championships held these days at the Palavela and for the cross-country World Cup races that will take place at Pragelato on the 22nd and 23rd and from the 26th to the 28th of January (cross country for disabled athletes). From the middle of December to the 30th of January, the accreditation centre of the Lingotto will issue about 6,000 accreditations for the three events. During the European Figure Skating Championships another accreditation centre only for the athletes will be opened at the Hotel Star Majestic. The Lingotto will also be the distribution centre for the Olympic Game uniforms for the volunteers and the staff: from mid- December to the end of January, about 2000 uniforms will be handed out.SPORTS:It is fundamental for the TOROC to test the equipment and the organisation at the competition site, the quality of the ice and the safety measures for the athletes. The European short track Championships will have 12 volunteers around the rink with six inside to check the track between the various races. Moreover, three specialists will handle the preparation and maintenance of the ice: monitoring the temperature and polishing it with special machinery to ensure the best possible racing conditions.VOLUNTEERS:About 700 volunteers will be on duty at the Palavela (out of a total of 3,500 who from December 2004 to March 2005 will be busy in all the Sport Events including the ones in the mountains). These volunteer have followed three training courses: one basic, one specific for their particular job and one on their knowledge of the racing venue. The number of men and of women are almost in the same, with a slight majority of men, while the age bracket most represented is from 55 years and over. Among the jobs the volunteers are called on to perform are, checks of the venue accesses, transport, spectator services, accreditation, radio distribution, medical and security services. Just one year following the opening of the applications for the Noi2006 programme, the TOROC has received 26,500 requests.TICKETING:The TOROC has also tested the ticket coupon sales network, especially the sale of tickets on the regional territory. For many of the competitions, both short track and figure skating, the tickets have been sold out. This means it will be possible to try out the spectator services, (flows, security controls, etc.) of the Palavela with its full capacity, which is of 8,200 places.THE SCHOOL PROGRAMME:In the framework of the Olympic Education project (the project that plans initiatives to spread the Olympic values of friendship, peace and solidarity in schools and promote the Olympic disciplines of Torino 2006), the TOROC is inviting almost 20,000 students, belonging to schools of all levels and types from all over the Piemonte Region, to watch the European short track and figure skating championships. Two hundred schools are expected for the short track with over 5,500 students, while for the figure skating there should be also 200 schools with 13,400 students.TRANSPORT:The TOROC will be putting to the test its transportation services for the athletes, the media and the federation members. Two hours before and after the races, with a frequency of 30 minutes, connections will be assured between the hotels of the athletes and the racing venue (during the European figure skating championships there will also be a link to the practice site at Tazzoli). The vehicle pool for the two events includes 18 automobiles, 8 nine-seat minibuses and 11 regular buses; the transport will be handled by the TOROC Personnel and also by 56 volunteers and by professional drivers. The TOROC will also manage the arrival and departure of the athletes and the ISU members.ANTI-DOPING:More than 200 samples will be taken from athletes by about thirty professional sport physicians. Besides the doctors taking samples - the so-called doping control officers, 150 volunteers will be on hand to escort the athletes from the competition sites to the sampling centres. The analyses will be performed in the Acquacetosa laboratories of Rome. The new anti-doping centre of Orbassano will be operational for TOROC uses starting from the middle of 2005, in time for the Olympic Games of 2006.CATERING AND REFRESHMENT SERVICES:The TOROC has planned and set up restaurant and refreshment areas (lounges) and bars in the Palavela, entrusting the service to an outside caterer. In the seven lounges dedicated to the Torino Ice Organising Committee, the ISU, the athletes, the media, the sponsors, the volunteers and the staff, during the nine days of races of the European Short Track and Figure Skating championships, about 18,000 presences are being planned for. The meals are free except for the media and for the spectators, who can make use of the services of six bars.TECHNOLOGIES:During the European championships, the Technology Department of TOROC will have the chance to put to the test its systems of cable television, Information technology, data transmission, and radio and telecommunications. As for the results, the TOROC will test its own system that will work side by side with the one officially used during the games, that will be operated by an outside company. A hundred televisions will be used, along with 200 fixed telephones, 180 radio transceivers, 140 computers, 70 printers, 20 fax machines and 12 servers, that will handle all the data flow of the European championships, there will also be monitoring and control stations located in the Main Technology Centre (MTC) at the TOROC headquarters of Via Bologna.SPORT PRODUCTION:During these European short track and figure skating competitions, trials will be held, during the breaks between the races and in the intervals, to assess various types of entertainment: music, projections on the ice, illustrations on maxi-screens, and the work of the speakers who will make announcements in Italian and in English, regarding the athletes, the scores and the standings and so on. This evening at 7.30, for the opening ceremony of the short track race, there will be a performance featuring the professional gymnastic champion Debbie Park.PRESS SERVICES:A press room has been set up inside the Palavela with 230 work stations, equipped with connections for computers and telephone lines, and an area dedicated to photographers. Journalists will have free access to computers, with Internet and information points on the PC’s, with news about the athletes, the results, and the standings. Photocopiers and fax machines will be available along with personal lockers.SECURITY:During the two European championship appointments at the Palavela, testing will also be carried out on the “Sicurezza ai siti” (Site security) activities, in full collaboration with the police forces. Specifically the video anti-intrusion system will be assessed, along with access checks on persons and goods.
TOROC Media Relations - International Desk
Mary Villa
+39 011 1124916
+39 334 1124916
mary.villa@... - www.torino2006.org
Giorgio Deiana
+39 011 1124913
+39 334 1124913
giorgio.deiana@... - www.torino2006.org
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