John Furlong spent more than a decade breathing life into Vancouver's Olympic Games, and now the former CEO of the Vancouver Olympic Committee (VANOC) is giving the public a candid look at the sporting event that united a country.
In his new memoir, Patriot Hearts: Inside the Olympics that Changed a Country (Douglas and McIntyre, 2011), Furlong recounts the 14 years he spent developing the Games, along with the successes and setbacks he stick-handled to make 2010 a memorable year.
Q. What was the single greatest challenge you faced pulling the Games together?
A. The greatest of all was keeping everybody "up" because you're navigating this very difficult road, and you have a terrible economy, and we had the snow [issue] at Cypress, and the death of [Georgian luger Nodar Kumaritashvili] and it's keeping everybody up [at night]. It was work that was beyond exhausting. I used to get up in the morning at 4:30 and wander off to the office and walk the floors and see who was there and leave late at night. When the economy went over the cliff and the whole country was suffering, we knew that we had to solve this problem ourselves, that we weren't getting help from anybody else.
Q. Looking back on it, is there anything you would do differently?
A. One thing that's always bothered me was when we submitted our budget to the [International Olympic Committee]. We followed the rules exactly, and we got punished dramatically by the Canadian media for it because we followed the rules; we published what we expected to do. We were going to develop these venues and build them for 2010, which meant the cost was not going to be in 2002 dollars. Then the economy heated up, and we were trying to construct when steel [prices were] going up every single day. So we had this terrible phenomenon and had I had the benefit of that experience today, I would have said, "We're going into this with two budgets, and we're going to declare both of them publicly."
Q. Sidney Crosby's "golden goal" was the defining moment of the Games for many Canadians. What was that moment like for you?
A. It's a defining moment for me, and I've tried very hard to understand it. Here's what I think happened: We got to that day and I believed that morning that the laws of natural justice would prevail and we'd win this medal no matter what. The Americans could have put everybody on the ice and we were going to beat them, and I thought that because I thought we earned it. If you look at that moment and you wonder why Canadians are still talking about it, it's because they believe they were on the ice with him, that they were not spectators anymore, that they were living this. So when they got out into the streets, they had this feeling in their hearts that they had played in that game. When the Games were over, I had a conversation with [Team Canada captain] Scott Niedermayer, and he told me the team knew this was bigger than hockey; they knew the country was depending on them. I think the world saw the country the way we wanted them to see us, and I saw the personality of Canada come out for the first time in a very large way.
Q. When you first came to this country from Ireland in 1974, a customs officer told you, "Welcome to Canada. Make us better." What did the Games teach you about being a Canadian?
A. Time and again I used to walk down along Robson Street [in Vancouver] at night after coming out of the medal events, and people were stopping me and saying we had given them a way to feel great about their country, and they've never been more proud to put the word "Canadian" behind their name. I realized this thought we had at the beginning, that Canadians would accept this invitation [to be patriotic], was actually happening. The Games succeeded because of the core spirit this country has, this relentless desire to succeed. We get into the winter every year, it comes at us hard and we wrestle it to the ground and on we go. I think the Games allowed that spirit to come out, and it helped us define what we say to people when we say, "I'm so proud to be a Canadian." The prime minister said after the Games, "Mark my words, when historians talk about Canada's growing strength in the 21st century, it started here. This was the moment when Canada was seen as the country that it is." I take great comfort from that.
Q. What's next for you? Have you considered entering politics?
A. [I'm] running from politics. I've written a book, and I've been asked to consider writing another one. I'm not sure - we'll have to see how well this one goes. People have asked me to be involved in the Canada Games and the Pan American Games. Well, no, there's nothing worse than the CEO that won't go away. I believe in service; I believe in the country. If I ever get asked to do something again I'd obviously consider it, but I did my best here. I tried to show that we had it in us to do something great, and I'm proud of it. But if it's the last major contribution I make to Canadian life, I'm OK with that.
