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Olympic Games: Games chiefs hit back at criticism
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Feb 16, 2010
Vancouver (AFP) - Vancouver Games organisers Tuesday hit back at stinging criticism from international media - especially in Britain - over problems the press say are plaguing the Games.
The Olympics have been blighted by weather woes that have forced delays to key events and the cancellation of thousands of tickets for snowboard and freestyle skiing due to safety issues for spectators.
Friday's opening ceremony was overshadowed by the death of Georgian luger Nodar Kumaritashvili, which led to criticism of track safety.
Even the location of the Olympic flame in downtown Vancouver - behind a fence - has been a source of controversy.
But organisers said they are shocked by the ferocity of the criticism and believe it is not giving a true picture of the Games.
"Yes, it shocks me a lot because our assessment is that the competitions are excellent, the athletes are very satisfied," said Renee Smith-Valade, spokeswoman for organising committee VANOC.
"We can't do anything about the weather, all we can do is react properly to it.
"In our view, the reactions we are getting from spectators here and on television are that the Games are excellent, that Canadians are proud and that the Games are a great success."
She said that challenges for the hosts of Winter Games were nothing new and that organisers of the 1988 Calgary Olympics were forced to postpone dozens of events because of warm weather.
"There's no question we've seen some press in Britain that we would look at and wonder which city the reporter's reporting from," Smith-Valade said.
"It doesn't feel like it's here because we're seeing people out on the streets celebrating."
International Olympic Committee spokesman Mark Adams praised the Games, saying the IOC was "impressed and continue to be impressed by the level of organisation. It's been a very well-organised Games".
"What I read in the British papers bears absolutely no relation to what I've been seeing in these Games," he added, saying that previous Games had also been hit with problems, with thousands of tickets cancelled at Nagano in 1998, for example.
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