The event was also attended by delegates from Beijing 2008, London 2012 and by representatives of the Candidate Cities for the Olympic Winter Games 2014, PyeongChang, Sochi and Salzburg. Salzburg was represented by Rudolf Höller, Bid Operations Director and head of the delegation, Gernot Leitner, Games Plan Director, Lucie Rothauer, responsible for Sport and Paralympics, as well as Alfred Denk, Director for Construction of the state of Salzburg.

“Detailed information of the IOC and exchange of experience with TOROC made again clear, that planning and realising Olympic and Paralympic Games is a very complex matter. The Organizing Committee can only reach the goal through a close cooperation with the IOC, the Federations and the NOC plus the integration of National and International authorities”, said Rudolf Höller, Salzburg Bid Operations Director after the five day debriefing in Vancouver.

It was the first time that representatives from many different Olympic stakeholder groups have been invited to participate actively in the programme. This included also representatives from the Athletes’ Commission, the International Federations, the sponsors, the media and Paralympic stakeholders.

The programme in Vancouver was split into three parts. Part One was the analyses of the Torino Games 2006. What was the “product”, how it was shaped by the vision and values of the organisers, how it was positioned in Italy and internationally and what the legacy of the Games was and will be for the city, region and country and also for the Olympic Movement.

Part Two focused on the various managerial challenges with a strong emphasis on topics such as venuisation, project management and Games operations.

Part Three was the analyses of the experience of the various Olympic stakeholders in Turin in order to establish what service levels were delivered to each stakeholder and the lessons to be learnt by future Games organisers.

 “The five day debriefing on the Torino 2006 Winter Games was very well organized and the level of detail provided as well as the openness on challenges and experiences was very valuable.

For bid cities, even in the early phase it is essential to understand the whole complexity of the Games to ensure a well thought through bid concept. It was a great chance to meet professional staff of the IOC as well as a good number of experts of all different functional areas. We are well underway and enter the next phase with full enthusiasm to develop an unforgettable Olympic experience in Salzburg 2014”, so Gernot Leitner, Salzburg Games Plan Director.