Latest news with #Simico
Local Italy
29-03-2025
- Politics
- Local Italy
Italy given green light for Winter Olympics bobsleigh track
After numerous setbacks, controversies and only 13 months of construction, a feat hailed by politicians as "an Italian miracle," the sliding track for the Milan-Cortina Games now appears to be fit for purpose. "We have successfully completed the pre-approval test runs as part of the homologation procedure," said bobsleigh federation chief Ivo Ferriani of Italy in a joint statement with Simico, the Olympic delivery company. "Minor adjustments still need to be made and the main focus must remain on completing the construction work, but the feedback we have received from our technical experts, athletes and their coaches has been very positive," Ferriani added. The official stamp of approval comes three days after the Cortina d'Ampezzo track's inauguration. Italy's Mattia Gaspari may not be among the gold medallists in the Dolomites from February 6 to 22 next year, but the 31-year-old skeleton specialist made history on Tuesday as the first to race down the much-discussed track. Since Monday 60 athletes representing the disciplines of bobsleigh, luge and skeleton have put the slope through its paces with test runs. Work to finish facilities for athletes at the Eugenio Monti slope will now resume. "The work is scheduled to be completed on November 5, 2025," Simico stated. When construction began in February 2024, late for a project of this scale and complexity, many doubted that it could be completed. Not Matteo Salvini, the second-in-command and Minister of Transport in Giorgia Meloni's hard-right government. Salvini relaunched the project at the end of 2023, when organisers wanted to relocate the 12 bobsleigh, luge, and skeleton events to neighbouring Austria or Switzerland, because of 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," the Italian deputy premier said this week. In January, Italian 2026 Winter Olympic organisers had named American ski resort Lake Placid as their "Plan B" should Cortina d'Ampezzo not be ready in time. Friday's announcement suggests 'Plan A' is firmly on course for use in 11 months time.
Yahoo
26-03-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Testing begins at Cortina's controversial Olympic sliding track for bobsled, luge and skeleton
ROME (AP) — 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: Andrew Dampf, The Associated Press
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:
Associated Press
25-03-2025
- Sport
- Associated Press
Testing begins at Cortina's controversial Olympic sliding track for bobsled, luge and skeleton
ROME (AP) — 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 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. Construction began in February last year. An official test event is slated for October, a step that 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. Preliminary testing will continue throughout the week. 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. ___
Yahoo
25-03-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Testing begins at Cortina's controversial Olympic sliding track for bobsled, luge and skeleton
ROME (AP) — 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 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. Construction began in February last year. An official test event is slated for October, a step that 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. Preliminary testing will continue throughout the week. 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. ___ AP Olympics:
