It’s already a forgone conclusion that orange will be prevalent in Richmond next February. That’s because the Dutch will be out in force to cheer on their own in speed skating—the favourite sport of the Netherlands.

But Jean Dupré, Speed Skating Canada’s director general, is encouraging locals to blanket the orange with a sea of red as part of the Canadian Olympic Committee’s Paint The Town Red campaign. Locally, that campaign has been spearheaded by Ed Gavsie and his Richmond Spirit of B.C. committee.

“People are already showing support by wearing Canada clothing all over them and they’re being respected for it,” says Dupré. “That’s important because first of all it makes our athletes feel good, and shows the community what respect is all about.

“Wearing red throughout the Games would be fantastic,” continues Dupré, “and not just when you’re going to the (Olympic) events but even when you’re shopping.”

During an exclusive sit-down interview with The Richmond Review last week, Dupré was literally bouncing in his chair with excitement. With the Vancouver Winter Games just 85 days away, and Canada’s speed skaters showing their mettle by winning numerous medals on the World Cup circuit, his optimism is shared by many Canadians.

“Our objective is to be the No. 1 nation and to do that we need between 28 and 32 medals,” he says. “Typically speed skaters have won 50 per cent of the medals (at previous Olympics) so our objective is about 12 to 15 medals (between short and long track).”

The Richmond Olympic Oval will host the long track speed skating events Feb. 13 to 27, while short track events will be at the Pacific Coliseum on the PNE grounds in Vancouver.

No Canadian has even won an Olympic event on Canadian soil in two previous Games—the 1976 Summer Games in Montreal or the 1988 Winter Games in Calgary. But Dupré is confident the drought will be end in Vancouver—and quickly.

“On the first day of competition (Feb. 13) we’ll have two good opportunities—Charles Hamelin in the men’s 1500 metres and Jennifer Heil in aerial skiing (in which she is the defending Olympic champion),” he says. “Imagine the kickoff that would give the Canadian team if at least we won one of those. It would sure start the team off on the right foot.”

Canadian short track speed skaters wrapped up their World Cup season last week on a high note. In Marquette, Francois Hamelin finished third in the 1,000 metres and the relay teams won two more medals (first for the men and third for the women) to bring Canada’s harvest to seven over the weekend—one more than the Olympic goal of six.

On Sunday, the final day of Heereveen’s long track World Cup, Canadian women shone by winning the team pursuit by an impressive margin, while Christine Nesbitt added to her medal collection with a victory in the 1,000 metres.

“It felt similar to last week. I went a bit faster overall than last week too, so that’s excellent,” said Nesbitt. 

In the men’s 1,000m event, American Shani Davis won in one minute, 8.48 seconds with Canada’s best Olympic medal hope at the distance, Denny Morrison of Fort St. John, coming in 12th in 1:09.81. Coach Marcel Lacroix said Morrison is on track and basically following the same pattern as last year when he placed second at the World Single Distance Championships.

“Last week when he medalled it was a bit of a surprise,” said Lacroix. “After Christmas, that’s when he starts performing, so I’m not worried at all.”

Dupré is elated at how Richmond has embraced Canada’s long track speed skaters. But there is still more people can do to help to further put the skaters’ minds at ease during the Winter Games.

“We need the community to now open its doors for parents and friends of our athletes,” he says. “We need about 50 families to be hosts. Our (speed skating) team is the biggest taking part in the Olympics. With 32 athletes (20 in long track) and 34 support staff, it’s much bigger than hockey.”

Dupré is also calling on the business community to further its support by providing these families and friends of Canadian Olympic athletes with discounts during the Games.

“It takes 10 to 12 years to develop an Olympic athlete and a lot of money,” he says. “These parents are making the trip to see their kids live their Olympic dream and any help they can get (to offset costs) is appreciated.”

Dupré is clearly devoted to amateur sport and understands its challenges. Outside of a year in Edmonton working for the NHL Oilers, he has spent 26 years helping to promote amateur sports. The last 15 years he has devoted to speed skating and says it’s as exciting as it was the first day on the job.

“I’m doing work with people who share the same values I do,” he says. “We believe in speed skating, but also believe in skating as a sport or a recreation.”

Speed skating formed a national group a couple of years ago with figure skating, hockey and ringette. It met to discuss how in the future kids could learn basic skating skills as part of one program. The idea is that from the introduction to skating the kids would be exposed to each of the skating sports and given the opportunity to learn and determine what they prefer.

“That’s not how it works now. Each has its own introductory programs,” says Dupré.

The provincial sports model in Quebec is a source of pride for Dupré. He notes that it is the best in the country because Quebecers realize and appreciate the role amateur sports plays in society.

“It has made Quebecers healthier and they also believe in having the best infrastructure,” he says. “As a result there is an education system for coaches and even financial subsidies for athlete and coaches.”

Dupré believes a similar model can be adopted throughout Canada. He is encouraged that a panel set up by sport minister Gary Lund on the future of high performance sport will further enhance support for amateur sport..

While the Richmond Olympic Oval will by and large be converted to a community centre for sport and wellness after the Olympics, Dupré says there is always a possibility it could host future long track events. But in the immediate he says the plan is to develop short track speed skating at the oval.

“I met last week with oval management and we are already considering bringing a World Cup to Richmond, maybe as soon as 2011,” he says.