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FRASER RIVER Anyone can visit the Oval, become a member or participate in the many drop-in programmes. The public can participate in the Oval’s programmes by purchasing a day pass or membership. Members of the local community can also access the facility free of charge through special sport, cultural and entertainment events, team sport practices, visits to the Richmond Sport Wall of Fame, History of Sport in Richmond, ROX SHOP, the Olympic Riverside Plaza, Water Sky Garden and other public services. Over 6,000 members regularly train at the Oval facilities and 65 community groups and associations operate their sport and leisure programmes at the Oval. Over 50 major sport events, trade shows and cultural events are held at the Oval annually. These programmes yield an operating surplus for the Oval each year. Since 2010, over 140 sports have been played at the venue, which had welcomed an estimated 6.1 million visitors by the end of 2017. This includes regular use by members, 81 per cent of whom are Richmond residents. In addition, many thousands more visit the family and sports medicine clinics that are also housed at the Oval. Furthermore, 90 community, provincial and national sports groups used the Oval’s facilities or services in 2017. It also provides facilities to community sports organisations at subsidised rents. In 2017, the Oval welcomed a total of 8,273 participants in registered community sport programmes, camps, and private lessons. The 2017 summer camps recorded the highest-ever registration numbers (1,822). Get Skills, the Oval’s marquee physical literacy camp, continues to be the most popular, along with fencing. Besides the opportunities for local people to use the site, elite athletes can benefit from a top facility and tailor-made services. For instance, 38 athletes who train at the Oval represented Canada at the Olympic and Paralympic Games Rio 2016. These athletes help to inspire the local youth who train beside them to seek their own personal bests. In 2015, the Oval opened the Olympic Experience, an Olympic museum that is a highly interactive tribute to the Olympic Games and sport in general. The Oval collaborates with the Canadian Olympic Committee (COC) by partnering on many initiatives including special events, conferences and athlete seminars and by providing the COC prominent display space so their messages to the Oval’s one million annual visitors remain current. Finally, the Oval encourages and supports other cities and organisations to visit, discuss and share. It is a member of the World Union of Olympic Cities, and has partnerships with AISTS, the Olympic Museums Network, and participates in the Global Active City programme and the Canadian Sport Tourism Alliance, to name a few. For more information, visit richmondoval.ca MUCH MORE THAN A FACILITY Below The Vancouver 2010 legacy lives on at the Richmond Olympic Oval OLYMPIC REVIEW 65 ACTIVE CITIES