2015 Canada Winter Games city to be named Friday

The host city for the 2015 Canada Winter Games will be named Friday at a press conference in front of the Olympic cauldron in downtown Vancouver.

The British Columbia municipalities of Kelowna, Kamloops and Prince George are the final three cities in the running to host the event.

The winner will be announced by B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell and Olympic gold medallist Catriona Le May Doan.

The Olympic cauldron will be relit for the occasion, only the second time it has been ignited since the Paralympics came to an end.

The Canada Winter Games will involve 3,600 athletes and the economic impact of the event is estimated at $60 million.

Reid Oddleifson, who's part of the Kelowna bid, says he's both excited and nervous.

"But I think we have an outstanding chance of winning," he said. "The bid work we've been doing over the last year and a half has been top calibre."

Ten representatives from Kelowna will be in Vancouver for the announcement, including Mayor Sharon Shepherd.

The naming of the host city should trigger a smaller version of the passion and excitement that surrounded the awarding in 2003 of the Olympic Winter Games to Vancouver-Whistler, Oddleifson said.

"There'll be the 10 of us jumping around, anyway," he said with a laugh.

The total budget for the event is set at $40 million, two-thirds of which would be provided by the provincial and federal governments.