In recent days, Tomáš Verner, the 2008 European Champion in Figure Skating as well as one of the Patrons of the EYOWF 2011, successfully finished his university studies. At the final state exams at the Faculty of Physical Education and Sport in Prague he earned three A's and one B and now deservedly holds the Bachelor's degree. Only two days later, he flew back to Toronto in Canada, where he will be working hard all year under the supervision of trainer Robert Emerson.
The organisers of the European Youth Olympic Winter Festival (EYOWF) 2011 in the Liberec Region passed an important test regarding their readiness this week. During his three-day visit to Liberec, Janko Dvoršak, President of the EOC Coordination Committee, personally inspect the current state of the preparations.
The organisers of EYOWF 2011 revealed the full set of six nations, which will compete in the Ice Hockey tournament. The Tipsport Arena will host prestigious duels between teams from the Czech Republic, Latvia, Finland, Slovakia, Switzerland and Russia. The European Ice Hockey superpowers will only lack Sweden. The team from Russia will defend their gold medals from the previous Winter Festival in Szczyrk 2009, young Czech players won their last tournament at the Swiss centre Monthey in 2005.
All eight disciplines at the EYOWF 2011 have their technical delegates, whose task will be to look after the smooth and due course of the competitions. Each international sport federation has nominated nine delegates for the Festival in the Liberec Region (with two delegates for Alpine Skiing). Among the delegates from Poland, Slovenia, Sweden and Slovakia are also two Czechs: Věra Tauchmanová (see photo), President of the Czech Figure Skating Association, and Martin Urban, Secretary General of the Czech Ice Hockey Association.
The latest news is that EYOWF 2011 will cooperate with the Czech Hydro Meteorological Institute from Ústí nad Labem in order to provide the Festival with a weather forecast. Weather reports will be updated twice a day, always in the morning and in the evening, with a localised forecast for each of the venues. The weather service will include regular forecasts for the following day and the outlook for the three to six following days. Over 9 days, it is estimated that some 80 weather reports will be delivered. In accordance with requests from venue administrators and the directors of each sport disciplines, workers at the regional weather offices will be ready to supply hourly updates before and after each race, including the issuing of breaking news.
One of the key sections of the EYOWF 2011 Organising Committee – the IT department - has been preparing technical background and security during the Festival. Members of the department are at present preparing the "IT Cookbook" - an information summary for all participants at the Festival. It will contain a detailed survey of all the activities that require IT attention throughout the event. Apart from the standard administration of the website, the IT department is also responsible for the internal information system. During the event, the department will provide full computer and internet connections in all of the EYOWF venues, Clarion Grandhotel Zlatý Lev, which accommodates members of the IOC and VIP guests, as well as in the Olympic Village, where up to 1500 athletes and participants will be lodged. For faster and easier communication between members of the Organising Committee, there will be 70 handheld radios on special frequencies and a central dispatching for sending multiple text or e-mail messages.