John Furlong (sports administrator)

John Furlong O.C., O.B.C, LLD (hc), D.Tech (hc)
Chief Executive Officer of Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games
In office February 21, 2004 – December 31, 2010
Personal details
Born	small (1950-10-12) October 12, 1950 Tipperary, Ireland
Died	small
Resting place	small
Nationality	Irish Canadian
Children	5
Parent	small
Occupation	Sportsman
Website	http://www.johnfurlong.ca

John Furlong, O.C, O.B.C (born October 12, 1950) is the Executive Chair of the Vancouver Whitecaps FC. He was the President and Chief Executive Officer of VANOC which oversaw the preparation and execution of the 2010 Winter Olympics and 2010 Winter Paralympics Games. Prior to his appointment as the CEO of VANOC, he chaired the Vancouver 2010 Bid Corporation (2001–2004), President of Arbutus Club, a members-only family club, member of the Canadian Olympic Committee, Chair of the BC Summer Games and BC Winter Games, and Sport B.C.

While Furlong's biography claims he immigrated to Canada from Ireland in 1974 , he actually arrived in 1969 and was allegedly involved in the physical and emotional abuse of students while working as a physical education teacher at a school in Burn Lake, BC.

He participated in international level in basketball, European handball and squash. He became Canadian Squash Champion in 1986.

In the aftermath of the 2011 Vancouver Stanley Cup riot, Furlong was appointed along with Douglas Keefe to independently examine the incident and to offer recommendations for the future. The report, The Night the City Became a Stadium: Independent Review of 2011 Vancouver Stanley Cup Playoffs Riot, was published on September 1, 2011.

Furlong was hired by the Vancouver Whitecaps FC on April 12, 2012.

On September 27th, Jonn Furlong held a press conference to deny allegations of physical and sexual abuse made by several former students while he was a physical education teacher in Burns Lake, BC

Publications

Furlong recounts his experience leading up to and throughout the Games. In his book Patriot Hearts, he describes how he led the Games through difficulties such as the death of Georgian luger Nodar Kumaritashvili, a global recession and the washed ­out snow at Cypress Bowl.

• Patriot Hearts: Inside the Olympics That Changed a Country by John Furlong & Gary Mason, Douglas & McIntyre (2011)

External links

• John Furlong webpage
• VANOC Biography
• Patriot Hearts