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The ultimate Olympic experience

Whistler resident to take part in ‘iconic and magical mega-productions’ of the opening ceremonies for second time
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Jodi Westbury is just one Sea to Sky resident who has been tapped to step onto the world stage during the opening and closing ceremonies for the 2010 Olympics. But Westbury is no stranger to the Olympic spotlight.

Nearly 22 years ago, during the 1988 Calgary Olympic Games, Westbury was one of hundreds of volunteer performers who kicked off the festivities. A dancer in her last year of high school at the time, she and other members of her dance troupe auditioned and were chosen to be part of a "futuristic, modern jazz number" at the ceremonies that bookend the Olympic Games.

"It was amazing, there was just so much energy! I think the one thing that really struck me was there's a lot of lead-up to the actual performance, and obviously a lot of work that goes into the preparation, and it's over so quickly," Westbury said. "So I think you really have to enjoy all aspects of the journey towards the Games, because they go by in a heartbeat!"

In February Westbury will be able to say she is one of the lucky few Canadians who has experienced the Winter Olympics up close and personal - twice. Westbury had been coming to Whistler as a weekend visitor for years, but finally moved to the community from Calgary three years ago to work for Tourism Whistler, as director of marketing services.

About a month ago she found out she has again been picked to be part of the Olympic experience. But this time around, she won't be dancing around the stadium. For the 2010 Olympics, she'll be acting as an athletes' marshall, leading a team into both the opening and closing ceremonies.

"It was an amazing experience in Calgary in '88 and I just wanted to come as close as I could, once again," she said.

But that doesn't mean she expects 2010 be a repeat performance of '88.

"I mean, it'll definitely be different just because I'm in a different place in my life and it's a very different Games. But I expect it to be wonderful and exciting in different ways. I think that a lot of amazing parts of it, like the people that you meet along the way and the experience of actually being involved in the Games, that'll be true to the experience I had in Calgary."

Amongst all of the negative publicity Whistler has received for anti-Olympic sentiments, Westbury is proud to represent the community, and the rest of the country, at the Games.

"...With Whistler, there's just been a very long lead-up to the Games and lots of work has been put in by a great number of people and I think it's time for us to start enjoying it a little bit more."

Despite the fact that she'll likely be in the spotlight in front of millions of people, Westbury said she isn't nervous, just excited.

"I think it'll be amazing to just be amongst the athletes and to be able to share in their energy and their excitement."

And Westbury is planning on being involved in much more than just the opening and closing ceremonies. During the Games, she'll be sticking around Whistler to work with Tourism Whistler and in the lead-up to the Games she's volunteering with the Alpine crew.

"I'll sleep afterwards, but I'm going to pack in every moment!" she said.

David Guscott, executive vice-president of celebrations and partnerships for VANOC, explained that not all volunteers are actively performing at opening and closing ceremonies.

"Volunteers are a very important part of our ceremony," Guscott said. "They play a variety of roles, some of them being performers and dancers on the field of play, others will be marshalling in the athletes and holding placards, and still others will be in the audience, helping to make sure the audience gets the most of the ceremonies by being a cheerleader.

"It takes all of those types to make the performance work. Every one of our volunteers (is) in a crucial role."

VANOC issued a call for dancers, athletes and performers to apply and audition for a spot, and received an "overwhelming" response - more than 5,000 applications. From that pool, they selected almost 4,500 people to take part in both the opening and closing ceremonies.

"We were pleased not only in the numbers, but in the skills the people brought, and the enthusiasm."

The original call for volunteers issued by VANOC stated that they were on the lookout for people with "lots of personality, a positive attitude, tonnes of energy, and a willingness to perform on a stage in front of thousands of people live and billions more around the globe" to take part in the "iconic and magical mega-productions" that start and finish the Games.

"They had the skills that you would expect, in terms of being body-aware - the athletes and the dancers and all knew how to move, and some of them were actually trained dancers," Guscott said. "Others were just people who had rhythm and had ability to move to music and control what they needed to be doing. Still, others just exuded bundles of enthusiasm - they were the kind of people that you'd want sprinkled throughout the crowd to get everybody up on their feet."

Guscott is very pleased with the people selected for the ceremonies, the vast majority of whom are from the Lower Mainland and Sea to Sky area, and said that people are going to be "so excited" to see what's in store for the ceremonies.

"This is actually Canada's way of telling our story, the story of our country, in terms of what we are. We're a bit of an enigma to people, and we're going to show people what we are and what we can do."

While the Beijing opening ceremonies were certainly a jaw-dropping spectacle, Guscott said that the 2010 Games will set the bar even higher.

"The challenge of putting in ceremonies is an awful lot like the challenge athletes have, and when you see an athlete at an Olympics break a time record or a distance record... you think, 'wow, how can anybody go any faster or how can anybody do any better than that?' And then next Olympics, the records get broken."