Sackville native to help host Olympics

Former Sackville resident and CBC host Ian Hanomansing is heading for the Olympic games in Beijing, China.
But don't expect to see him perform any synchronized swimming, or to dive headfirst after a volleyball; rather, expect to see Hanomansing as the host of Olympic Pacific Prime, one of three CBC shows covering the Olympic games from Beijing.
That's if you can stay up late enough to watch it.
With Beijing about 11 hours ahead of the Eastern Time zone, Hanomansing expects few people from Sackville will be watching his show, which airs from 12 to 3 a.m. ET.
"In terms of Sackville, the only people who will be watching my show other than my parents I think will be people who are insomniacs," said Hanomansing during a phone interview from Vancouver.
This will be the fifth time he's attended an Olympic games, but the first time as the host of a program.
"The four (Olympic games) before, I was a reporter for CBC National News and now I have a whole new role for the Beijing Olympics," he said.
Hanomansing is currently the host of CBC News: Vancouver at Six, and has been a reporter with CBC News since 1986. His assignments for the CBC have taken him across the globe, including the Philippines, Japan and Vietnam.
While there are more than 50 hosts, commentators, analysts, and former Olympians covering the Olympic games for the CBC in Beijing, Hanomansing says he expects coverage will be a little different when compared to that of previous games.
"In the last Olympics in Turin (Italy), CBC experimented with having a lot of the support people remain in Canada, and so this time around almost all of the producers and support staff will be in the broadcast centre in Toronto."
So while he's sitting in the studio in Beijing, Hanomansing will be in contact with producers and a director back in Toronto.
"In a lot of ways that support staff kind of has the toughest job, with very little reward, because they're going to be working the same long hours . . . but they don't get the enjoyment of getting to be in Beijing and soaking up in the Olympic atmosphere," he said.
And while Beijing may be in the midst of controversy on just how polluted their atmosphere is, Hanomansing says he's still excited to see all that China has to offer.
"The setting is going to be fascinating, and to see how China performs here, off the playing field as much as on the playing field," he said.
"And another thing for me personally is this role as a show host for an Olympic broadcast, it's very exciting. To have this role at an Olympic games is certainly something I'm really looking forward to."