Topic: News: Wes Barnett- Whitehorse will leave impression in 2008

[Chris Ⓐ LeRoux]

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Whitehorse should leave an impression in 2008

The timing of it all seemed somewhat strange.

Wes Barnett, the executive director of U.S.A. Weightlifting and a former Olympic athlete, paid his first visit to Whitehorse this week. Barnett was in town to scout out the facilities for the 2008 world junior weightlifting championships, which will be held in the Yukon’s capital. He also met with the local organizers for 2008 and offered any help they may need.

“This is a North American championship,” he explained. “Being in North America, we (Canada and the U.S.) often are judged by each other’s results. And we’re close neighbours.

“So the purpose of my visit is to A, come up and make sure everything’s OK, from a Team U.S.A. perspective – see where our athletes will be staying, what the facilities will be like and what to expect, then report back to my board of directors.

“And secondly, work here with Jenn (Houtby, the managing director of the Yukon Convention Bureau) and let her know all of the things we have in the U.S. to help, from manpower, to equipment, to scoring systems.”
Barnett is also able to offer inside knowledge on the sport of weightlifting, and he is willing to come up and serve as a volunteer himself. He hopes the U.S. can help ease some of the costs associated with outsourcing services. So basically, the two countries can be partners in hosting a very successful championships, he said.

While this week worked out as the best time for Barnett to head North, it wasn’t exactly the best time for the Westmark Whitehorse to showcase its hotel facilities. Barnett is staying at the Westmark, which is currently undergoing major renovations and doesn’t even have a restaurant right now.

Sitting in the middle of all the construction, ripped up floors on display and workers milling about the building all day, you wonder how much Barnett could possibly enjoy his time at the facility. But then it becomes obvious it doesn’t really phase him. After touring all the hotels in town, he was pleased with what he saw.

“Whitehorse is fantastic. All the properties that I’ve been to, everything just looks so clean and meticulously cared, that I think it’s going to be fantastic. I also think it’s great that everybody in the community is going to get a taste for what it’s like. It’s not like one hotel is going to house everybody. It’s going to be spread out to four or five different hotels, so everybody’s going to be able to embrace it and feel like they’re a part of it.”

The reason Barnett is staying at the Westmark, despite the renovations, is because that’s where a lot of the officials will be staying during the championships, so Houtby wanted him to get a feel for what it would be like. Barnett said it’s the really simple things that will make the difference.
“What’s important is that you’ve got beds and showers and televisions.
The important things are all there.”

Barnett likes the fact Whitehorse is a small community, because often, a championship held in a large city is ignored by the majority of residents. It’s highly unlikely that will happen here, as Yukoners are known for embracing visitors.

“We’ve been in different cities around the world where you come in for a championship, you’re there for two weeks and nobody even knew you were there. That’s just bad. If you come to a little bit of a smaller place, like Whitehorse, where it may be the only show in town at that time, you’re going to get more people involved. And ultimately it creates more exposure to the sport, for the Canadian athletes, and it just introduces the sport to a group of people who may not otherwise have seen it or known about it.”

The other benefit of hosting a championship in a smaller city is easier transportation. The competition and the training sessions will both be held at the Canada Games Centre, so no matter what hotel the athletes and officials are staying at in Whitehorse, a bus ride to the venue will only take 10 or 15 minutes.

Barnett has been to events where the bus ride has taken two hours, and the athletes are exhausted by the time they get off. The only thing an athlete should be worried about at a competition, he pointed out, is competing. They shouldn’t be stressed out about accommodations, food or transportation.

“You can get to everything pretty quickly here, so the convenience factor is really a huge thing,” he stated. “I have been to championships where it’s like, ‘OK, the bus stop is a half a mile walk.’ A half a mile may not sound like much to some people, but when you’re a weightlifter and you’re trying to rest, and you’re doing that walk twice a day over a number of days, it may mean the difference between a lift or not.

“That’s not going to exist here. Because they are going to be here, the only thing they have to worry about is lifting.”

Barnett said the young athletes who visit the Yukon will also enjoy any cultural experiences which may be offered, such as visits to historic sites, watching the Frantic Follies, or even just shopping for Yukon gold and admiring the scenery. Many of them don’t have those benefits in their home countries, and it’s not often they get to see anything outside of their hotel and the venue at other championships either.

It’s an important element that’s sometimes missed by other organizers, said Barnett, and you want to leave a lasting impression on the competitors so they have a good memory of not only the championship, but the place.

In 13 years of international competition Barnett has been to three Pan-American Games, eight world championships and two Olympics Games – 1992 and 1996. At the world championships in 1997, he won the first medals – a silver and a bronze – by an American male in over 30 years. He also won a gold medal at the 1995 Pan-American Games in Argentina.
Barnett retired in 2000, and when he looks back on his most memorable championships, the host cities had a lot to do with it.

“Obviously, the Olympics, that experience is just one in itself and just absolutely remarkable. But, my probably two most memorable, were a competition where I won medals at the world championship, which was in Thailand, and way back in 1987, my very first international competition as a junior athlete. I can’t tell you what I lifted, I can’t tell you if I won medals or not or what my placing was. But I can tell you all of the things that we did which still to this day, some 18 or 20 years later, still are in my head and make it one of my most favourite trips I’ve been on.”
So far, Whitehorse has passed Barnett’s test with flying colours. He hopes to come back “many times” between now and 2008.

“I just love the open space, the mountains and scenery. I think all the visitors that come here are going to have a fantastic time.”

Barnett is hopeful North American athletes will potentially post strong showings in the 2008 junior worlds, especially if the sport continues on the same path it’s been on in the last couple of years.
 
While weightlifting doesn’t change very often as far as rules, technique or strategy, the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) has been making huge strides in the area of drug testing.

In the past, countries that play by the rules, like Canada and the U.S., have been behind the ball in international competition. That’s not to say the problems don’t exist any more, but it is slowly getting better.

At the 2005 world championships this past November, three athletes tested positive for banned substances and are facing suspension upon review.

The test results weren’t available until after the championships had ended, but their lifting results in Doha will now be void. One of those athletes – Valeria Fontan from Argentina – placed fourth at worlds in the 69 kilogram class – the same class as Yukon Jeane Lassen, who finished sixth.

So with the positive test for Fontan, Lassen should now move up to fifth, pending review.

Another athlete is also facing suspension after positive tests from prior to the championship were recently brought to light.

Barnett spoke openly and honestly about the drug situation in weightlifting.
“One of the things I’m most happy with at this point in time is the attention that’s being paid to drug testing, which in the past, didn’t exist. And I think now, it’s only going to get better for those countries that have choosen to play by the rules and play fair.

“I’m hoping this trend continues, that they become more and more aggressive in their fight against performance-enhancing drugs, so that countries like the U.S. and Canada can start being on that medal podium on a more consistent basis.

“Our athletes work just as hard as the other athletes, but if you choose to play by the rules, right now you’re at a disadvantage.”

Barnett said it’s encouraging to see the IWF wants to change things and it sends the right message. For too many years, weightlifting has had a bad reputation for the number of athletes who use banned substances, he said.

And for too many years, the worst offenders were the ones who didn’t get caught.

While no one knows how long it will take before athletes have a completely level playing field, or if they ever will, Barnett is hopeful.
“You’re talking triple-Olympic champions now testing positive, medalists testing positive, and it’s being made public. In the past, that never would have happened. They’d catch some obscure guy instead. It was just window-dressing.

“It’s a matter of putting rules in place, making them tough, and no matter who it is, applying them.”