Medal presentations at Whistler-based events at the 2010 Winter Olympics will take place in Whistler Plaza after all, officials said Tuesday.

Medal presentations at the Whistler Plaza had been in doubt since late last year.

During budget reviews in late December and against the backdrop of economic uncertainty, it was recommended the medal presentations take place at the sport venues rather than at Whistler Plaza to help streamline the Games operating budget.

But officials said that after another budget review, the medal presentations will return to the plaza.

The revised $12.8-million Whistler Celebration Sites program, including medal presentations at the plaza site, now includes $6.8 million from the Vancouver Olympics organizing committee (known as VANOC), $5 million from the federal government and $1 million from Whistler.

IOC supports decision

The International Olympic Committee expressed its support for the decision.

"We are delighted that VANOC and [Whistler] have found a way to present the medals at Whistler Olympic and Paralympic Celebration Plaza," IOC Co-ordination Commission chairman René Fasel said in a prepared statement.

Whistler Olympic and Paralympic Celebration Plaza will be the centrepiece of the Whistler Celebration Sites program, officials said.

"The return of the medal presentations to Whistler Plaza ensures the Olympic broadcasters will televise the nightly medals ceremonies and provides greater profile to all the programming presented at the site," said Terry Wright, VANOC executive vice-president of services and operations.

Whistler Mayor Ken Melamed said he expected the response in Whistler to be "very positive."

The idea to move the medals ceremony to the venues at Whistler-based events came late last year when VANOC was reviewing how it could shave costs off its $1.6-billion operating budget.

The medal ceremonies will be the first time a mountain host venue has been allowed to hand out medals. More than half of the total medals being awarded during the 2010 Games will be for events in Whistler, a two-hour drive outside Vancouver.