Speedskaters worry funding crunch at oval could hurt Olympic hopes
Speedskaters fearing ice time will be cut at Calgary's Olympic Oval are asking Ottawa for emergency funding.
A funding crunch at the oval could see ice time leading to the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver reduced from nine months to just five months — a training season from September of this year to next January.
At a news conference Tuesday, Speed Skating Canada said that it's a move that could hurt Canada's chances at the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver.
"Four months less of ice to prepare on makes a big difference, and the best way to get better at speedskating is by speedskating. So it will be difficult to train this summer the way that we normally would have," Olympic medallist Jeremy Witherspoon said.
Susan Auch, another medallist, said the move would not only threaten Canada's 2010 aspirations for podium success but also for future Winter Olympics.
After the Olympics, "there will be no oval in Richmond. The purpose of that facility is to be a recreation centre, so Calgary is our only hope for the future," she said.
Catriona Le May Doan, a director for the oval and another medallist, said no decision has been made on cutting ice time.
"We've been asked to cut the budget by 41 per cent. Our budget gets approved by WinSport — and that's a crazy cut," she said.
"We've looked at our proposed budget, and we have said right now we have a shortfall. If we were to go ahead with this budget right now, we are missing a few months of ice."
WinSport loses $40 million
The Olympic Oval, which costs about $3.5 million a year to run, has a 400-metre speedskating track and two international-sized rinks used for hockey and other sports.
Two-thirds of the facility's funding comes from WinSport, formerly known as the Calgary Olympic Development Association, which has had to slash its spending because of big losses in the stock market. The rest of the oval's funding comes from the University of Calgary.
WinSport's endowment funds have tumbled by $40 million and now sit at $120 million.
Skaters learned last week that to cover the funding shortage, four employees would be laid off, while fees for athletes who use the facility and coaches will be hiked from $2,300 to $3,000 a year. Speed Skating Canada said the federal government and the University of Calgary should federal government should "rally together" to keep the oval open for nine months of the year.
WinSport has not ruled out trimming budgets at some of the other Olympic training facilities that it operates, which include Canada Olympic Park — used for ski jumping, bobsleigh and luge during the Calgary Games — and the Bob Niven Training Centre, a gym and athletic-therapy complex.