Ashley Walden, director of the Adirondack Sports Council and a retired luge Olympian, and Chris Carroll, head of marketing, communications and sponsorships for the games, briefed the North Elba Town Council last week on some of the updates surrounding planning for the games. They spoke about the number of volunteers that will be needed to staff the events, when marketing of the games will really kick off, their plans for keeping the community up to date on the planning progress, and the creation of a sports commentator training program for college students. Carroll also mentioned that they’d like to see the Olympic cauldron refurbished for use during the games.

“We think it would be a great investment,” he said.

Walden told the town council during a work session on July 6 that 1,500 volunteers will be needed for the games between the different areas hosting events. There is expected to be competition — and athlete villages — in Lake Placid, Potsdam and Canton. North Creek will also host events, and some athletes may be housed in hotels there, too.

The sports council posted a few new paid jobs last week, which can be found at adksc.org under the “Careers” tab. A new sports commentator training program for college students ahead of the games, which will allow students to gain credits, is expected to launch next year.

Carroll said a marketing push will start 16 months ahead of the games.

“We think the timing will be great on that,” he said.

The games themselves will be broadcast to a worldwide audience of 350 million people, Carroll noted.

Walden said the sports council is currently planning another “town hall” style public meeting to update the community on the games.