John Furlong goes the extra mile

By Barinder Sall

When John Furlong was plucked from his job as CEO of The Arbutus Club, a private athletic club in Vancouver, few knew much about him, and most suggested that he wasn’t the greatest choice to be the face of Vancouver’s bid for the 2010 Olympic Winter Games.
Winning the bid required a known quantity and a bit of star power, it was argued.  Then the Vancouver Bid Team, under Furlong’s leadership, won the games for Vancouver and Canada.  John Furlong was appointed CEO of the newly-formed VANOC. 
The same chorus of critics raised their voices again.  They said Furlong didn’t have the experience running a venture so large.  They said he would be eaten alive.  They said the Games would suffer.  With less than two weeks remaining, they have finally been silenced.
At first glance, John Furlong was an unexpected choice to be leading the huge enterprise that is VANOC.  His commitment to sport has never been in doubt.
A native of Ireland, he has captained Gaelic Football teams, as well as the national handball and basketball teams in Ireland.  He has served as chair of both the BC Summer and Winter games.  He is a former Canadian squash champion and a longtime member of the Canadian Olympic Committee.  To list the rest of his achievements in the world of sport would take quite a bit more ink.
However, in spite of all his athletic experience, Furlong had never tackled a project of the mammoth proportions of the Olympics.
Furlong was not about to allow that to stand in his way.  A long-time Olympic enthusiast, he was intimately familiar with the running of many previous Games, and he created a plan to capitalize on their successes, and learn from their mistakes. 
As a result, VANOC has completed all facilities well ahead of schedule and on budget. Contrast this to any number of other Games, when venue construction was so far behind that paint was still drying on facilities during the Opening Ceremonies.
The Olympic Torch Relay has now begun its final descent to Vancouver, and with it, the countdown to the Games.  John Furlong seems to have beaten the odds, surviving as VANOC CEO in an industry where few make it from the bid process all the way to the Games. 
Along the way, for all the curveballs thrown his way, he has managed to guide VANOC with a steady hand, and by all accounts Canadians can look forward to a very successful Olympics.  Over three decades ago, when John Furlong first arrived in Canada, the customs officer he encountered said to him, “Welcome to Canada; make us better.” 
John Furlong has done so by every standard.
Kudos to him.

Barinder Sall is a Vancouver 2010 Olympic Games Ambassador