'A miracle': Testing begins at Italy's Winter Olympics sliding track
Italy's Mattia Gaspari may not end up among the gold medallists in the Italian Dolomites from February 6th to February 22nd next year, but the 31-year-old skeleton specialist has already made history.
He was the first to race down Cortina's contested sliding track as part of its pre-homologation process to ensure its safety for competitors.
Dozens of bobsleigh, luge and skeleton athletes are set to carry out additional test runs in the coming days by sliding down the 1,749-metre track.
When construction work began in February 2024, many doubted that it could be completed.
Deputy PM Matteo Salvini had relaunched the project at the end of 2023, when organisers said they planned to relocate the 12 bobsleigh, luge and skeleton events to neighbouring Austria or Switzerland due to the lack of a functioning track in Italy.
"I want to thank the workers who came from all over the world to Cortina to create this miracle that represents Italy so well," Salvini said.
"Where there's a will, there's a way. Italian engineers and architects are without equal in the world," he added, comparing the sliding track to the dome of Florence's Duomo cathedral, designed by Filippo Brunelleschi in the 15th century.
"History is full of Italians who dared. At the time, it was said of this dome that it would never last. Six centuries later, it's still there. This will also apply to those who say these Olympic Games are too expensive."
Italy has allocated €5 billion to the 2026 Olympic Games, including €3.5 billion for the construction and renovation of sports venues and transport infrastructure around northern Italy.
The President of the Veneto region, Luca Zaia, hailed the track – the first in the world to use glycol rather than ammonia for its refrigeration – as "our Guggenheim Museum".
"People will come to see a great achievement in terms of architecture and engineering," he said.
The final parts of the project, which include athletes' changing rooms and the start and finish areas, are set to be completed by November.
By the time construction work is finished, Cortina's 'Sliding Centre' will have cost €118 million.
"Building a track in 305 days has never been done before," said Ivo Ferriani, President of the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation (IBSF), noting that the average construction time for such a venue is 700 days.
"To be honest, I never really doubted myself. It was a huge challenge, but we managed to turn a problem into a model," he added.
"It's an incredible feeling to go down this track," said Italian bobsledder Patrick Baumgartner.
"I've been doing this for 15 years, and this is the first time I've piloted on a track in Italy, at home."
Local conservation groups have expressed anger over the track's environmental impact and its use after the Olympics, as bobsleigh, luge and skeleton are sports with few participants in Italy.
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