Do you know that the German and Swedish teams that trained at Silver Star Ski resort in British Columbia won 12 medals during the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics? Many Olympic teams in the hopes of getting the same results are using the Okanagan  again to do their final pre-Games tune-ups on local cross-country ski trails.

Some of the participating athletes are from the nordic event teams of Norway, the Czech Republic, Russia and Switzerland. In all, eight Olympic teams totalling 100 competitors are training locally, injecting money into the economy and Olympic buzz into the region. One of the most popular venues is the Sovereign Lake Nordic Centre in the North Okanagan. The Norwegian biathlon team has been training there and at nearby Silver Star Mountain Resort for the past two weeks.

The region has been a popular training ground for nordic competitors for years. Most teams are staying at Silver Star for 10 to 16 days, resulting in $125,000 in total revenue for the resort. So, next time you ski in BC consider yourself lucky because you might be using the same trails which helped train Olympic athletes.

Other Vancouver 2010 Posts:

Transportation During Olympics 2010

Opening Ceremony Olympics 2010

Meet Vancouver Olympics 2010 Athletes