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CBC
01-04-2025
- Sport
- CBC
Olympic CEO has 'absolutely no doubt' that sliding events will be held in Cortina d'Ampezzo
With the 2026 Milan-Cortina Olympics less than a year away, organizing committee CEO Andrea Varnier said he has "absolutely no doubt" that sliding sports will be held in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, after testing went well last week. There was concern that the venue for bobsled, luge and skeleton might not be ready in time for next February's Games. The International Olympic Committee even demanded a Plan B option that could have the events moved to Lake Placid, New York, if things fell apart. The International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation said last week's testing period at the track was "successful." Now, Varnier is confident about the pace rebuilding the century-old sliding centre is on. "We were always very optimistic, but until the pre-homologation (testing) of course, there were a lot of doubts around us," he said. "But we were confident, and we're very happy now." Officials from the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation, International Luge Federation and the International Olympic Committee will determine whether the track receives official preliminary certification. Last week's events were enough to leave Varnier in good spirits. Completion is scheduled for Nov. 5, then there would be homologation and handover to Fondazione Milano Cortina 2026 to hold the Games. Before the Olympics, the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation and International Luge Federation are set to use the new track for international training and test events. Varnier said it is important that the sliding sports be held in Cortina to improve the experience for those involved. "Very happy because that would be ideal for the athletes to be all together, to stay together in Cortina," he said. "Will be ideal for the spectators who will have a more truly Olympic experience in Cortina, and also for for the media and all the operators that — it would have been very difficult to follow those sliding sports somewhere else in the world."
CBC
29-03-2025
- Sport
- CBC
Bobsleigh officials rave about Cortina track, a good sign for 2026 Olympic events being held there
Italy appears to be one big step closer to having the sliding events at next year's Milan-Cortina Olympics on its own track after all. The International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation said Friday that it has declared this week's testing period at the Cortina d'Ampezzo track "successful" and that it looks forward to the 2026 Olympics being held at the rebuilt track. That's not the official word — that will likely come from the International Olympic Committee — but it is the strongest suggestion yet that Cortina's ambitious construction project will bring the Olympic bobsleigh, skeleton and luge races there and not require the Plan B site of Lake Placid, New York. About 60 sliders from 12 countries, half of them from Italy, tested the track this week in what is called pre-homologation. The reports from those sliders, evidently, were positive. "Minor adaptions still need to be done and the main focus must remain on the finalization of the construction works," IBSF president Ivo Ferriani said in a news release distributed Friday. "The feedback we received from our technical experts and the coaches and athletes on site this week, has been very positive. We are thrilled about this outcome and the entire bobsleigh and skeleton community cannot wait to come back here for our World Cup in November, further training — and then of course the pinnacle of all competition, the Olympic Games." Work is scheduled to continue at the site until Nov. 5, at which time the facility — which still needs a roof and event-support buildings — will be handed over to Milan-Cortina organizers. Simico, the Italian government agency in charge of the 118 million euro project, reported positive results for the test runs. But it will be officials from the IBSF, International Luge Federation and the IOC who determine whether to bestow preliminary certification for the track. Ferriani's words were an indicator that the IBSF is on board. Preliminary approval would be a big step in avoiding a backup Plan B option that the IOC had demanded and which would require moving the three sliding sports all the way to Lake Placid if the track in Italy wasn't finished in time. Lake Placid officials were hopeful that, if the sliding events were going to be awarded to the U.S., the official word would come by the end of March. Luge athletes are scheduled to have an international training period at the new track from Oct. 27 through Nov. 2, then return for a test event there in the final week of November. The bobsled and skeleton tours will hold their international training period from Nov. 7-16, followed by the season-opening World Cup races there from Nov. 17-23. The 1.749-kilometre Cortina track features 16 curves with an estimated top speed of 145 kph and with run times slated for 55-60 seconds.
Reuters
28-03-2025
- Sport
- Reuters
Italy's new sliding centre for 2026 Games passes initial tests
March 28 (Reuters) - The new 'Eugenio Monti' sliding centre for the 2026 Milano-Cortina Winter Olympics has successfully completed its initial tests for bobsleigh, luge and skeleton competitions. Track experts from the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation and International Luge Federation as well as coaches, assessed its compliance with international racing standards. In the initial, or 'pre-homologation', test runs, 60 athletes from 12 nations tested the 1,730-metre track - a redesign of the 1920s original with 16 curves. "It's just fantastic to see the track in such good shape," IBSF President Ivo Ferriani said in a statement on Friday. "We all know that the time frame for the reconstruction was very tight and ambitious. "The feedback we have received from our technical experts, the coaches and athletes on site this week has been very positive," he added. Italian skeleton athlete Mattia Gaspari, a Cortina native, was the first to test the track after its inauguration on Tuesday. Athletes from Team USA, including five-times world champion and Olympic medallist Kaillie Humphries, also tried it. The completion of the roof and ancillary installations is scheduled for November, before final tests before it is handed over to the organisers of the February 6-22 Games. Lake Placid in the U.S. has been chosen as Plan B for next year in case something happens to the schedule of the sliding centre project, although the International Olympic Committee said in January that it will be finished on time.
Local Italy
25-03-2025
- Sport
- Local Italy
'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.
Washington Post
25-03-2025
- Sport
- Washington Post
Testing begins at Cortina's controversial Olympic sliding track for bobsled, luge and skeleton
ROME — When Italian skeleton competitor Mattia Gaspari became the first athlete to test the controversial sliding track for next year's Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics, he did so in a sort of tunnel under a temporary roof built of wooden beams and white plastic paper. That's because the sliding center in Cortina d'Ampezzo is still under construction and the only part that is really finished is the track structure. Still, getting to this point little more than a year after construction began is a big achievement for the Italian government, which rebuilt the century-old track despite calls from the International Olympic Committee to hold bobsled, luge and skeleton athletes at a venue in nearby Austria or Switzerland instead. 'It's really been quite an adventure,' Infrastructure and Transport Minister Matteo Salvini said Tuesday. 'I want to thank the construction firm, which was the first one to believe in this, and the journalists who motivated us,' said Salvini, who is also the deputy premier, citing articles claiming that the project would never be done. 'Well, here we are.' Olympic bronze medalist Dominik Fischnaller was the second athlete down the track on his luge before Simone Bertazzo and Eric Fantazzini made a two-man bobsled run. Simico, the government agency in charge of the 118 million euro ($128 million) project, reported positive results for the test runs. But it will be officials from the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation, International Luge Federation and the IOC to determine whether to bestow preliminary certification — homologation is the technical word — for the track. Preliminary approval would be a big step in avoiding a backup Plan B option that the IOC had demanded and which would require moving the three sliding sports all the way to Lake Placid, New York , if the track in Italy wasn't finished in time. Lake Placid officials were hopeful that, if the sliding events were going to be awarded to the U.S., the official word would come by the end of March. Construction on the Cortina track began in February last year. The pre-homologation plan calls for athletes to begin their initial runs from the junior start, well below the ramps from where they would begin to race for World Cup and Olympic competitions. Sliders would move up the track slowly throughout the coming days. There are testing events at the Cortina track for all three sliding sports — bobsled, skeleton and luge — scheduled for throughout the fall. Those are important so that sliders can familiarize themselves with the track and feel safe there when competing at the Olympics. Safety has taken on more importance since the death of Georgian luger Nodar Kumaritashvili in a training crash hours before the start of the opening ceremony for the 2010 Vancouver Games. Luge athletes are scheduled to have an international training period at the new track from Oct. 27 through Nov. 2, then return for a test event there in the final week of November. The bobsled and skeleton tours will hold their international training period from Nov. 7-16, followed by the season-opening World Cup races there from Nov. 17-23. The 1.749-kilometer (1.09-mile) track features 16 curves with an estimated top speed of 145 kph (90 mph) with run times slated for 55-60 seconds. Athletes from 12 nations are involved in the tests this week. It's about 60 athletes in all, about half of them being Italian sliders. Coaches representing at least 23 different sliding nations were also invited to view this week's events. ___ AP Sports Writer Tim Reynolds contributed to this report. ___ AP Olympics:
