The Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics are 1 year away. One venue remains uncertain

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By ANDREW DAMPF, Associated Press

CORTINA D’AMPEZZO, Italy (AP) — In Sochi, workers were inactive hammering distant successful the media colony and ablution h2o ran yellowish erstwhile journalists from astir the satellite arrived for the 2014 Winter Games.

The chaotic preparations for the 2016 Summer Games successful Rio de Janeiro were labeled the “worst” ever by a vice president of the International Olympic Committee.

The adjacent Olympics, though, mightiness acceptable an unofficial grounds for moving precocious connected preparations.

That’s due to the fact that the century-old sliding center being wholly rebuilt for the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Games is pushing the deadline truthful choky that the IOC has gone truthful acold arsenic to request a Plan B enactment that would necessitate moving bobsled, luge and skeleton events each the mode to Lake Placid, New York, if the way successful Italy isn’t finished successful time.

Construction enactment takes spot astatine the Cortina Sliding Center, venue for the bob, luge and skeleton disciplines astatine the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics, successful Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, Thursday, Jan. 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Giovanni Auletta)

Thursday marks precisely 1 twelvemonth to spell earlier the Feb. 6, 2026 opening ceremonial astatine the San Siro stadium and the way successful Cortina is inactive a half-completed operation site.

The IOC has acceptable a deadline for the extremity of adjacent period for pre-certification of the Cortina way and cipher is saying for definite if it volition walk the test.

But Fabio Saldini, the Italian authorities commissioner successful complaint of the 118 cardinal euro ($123 million) project, told The Associated Press during a caller sojourn that astir 70% of the way was completed — adjacent if it was pugnacious to archer wrong the muddy and chaotic operation site.

With 180 radical moving from 6 a.m. to 1 a.m. each time to physique the sliding center, the archetypal crystal is slated to beryllium laid down connected the way astatine the commencement of March.

“We person immense enactment from the operation firms, the authorities and (Infrastructure and Transport Minister Matteo) Salvini,” Saldini said. “With everyone’s support, we volition beryllium capable to decorativeness successful time.”

Construction began little than a twelvemonth agone and nary sliding way has been built successful specified a abbreviated timeframe. An authoritative trial lawsuit is slated for October, a measurement that has taken connected much value since the decease of Georgian luger Nodar Kumaritashvili successful a grooming clang hours earlier the commencement of the opening ceremonial for the 2010 Vancouver Games.

Construction enactment goes connected astatine the Stelvio Ski Center, venue for the alpine skis and skis mountaineering disciplines astatine the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics, successful Bormio, Italy, Thursday, Jan. 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

Lake Placid was chosen due to the fact that it came with nary cost

The IOC would person preferred to usage an progressive way successful adjacent Austria oregon Switzerland alternatively of rebuilding the Cortina venue, which had been closed since 2008. But it fto the section organizing committee prime the Plan B option.

“We chose Lake Placid due to the fact that it was the lone spot wherever they offered america the way without requiring america to marque immoderate investments,” Milan-Cortina CEO Andrea Varnier told AP. “But we’re counting connected holding the sliding sports present successful Cortina.”

Added organizing committee president Giovanni Malagò astir the Lake Placid backup plan: “It’s conscionable a formality. There’s nary substance to it.”

Environmental groups person protested implicit clime harm owed to the Cortina track’s reconstruction.

“There were 800 trees chopped down,” Saldini said. “But they were not each 100 years old, similar immoderate radical said. And we’re going to works 10,000 trees erstwhile we’re done.”

Olympic rings are seen adjacent a slope of the Stelvio Ski Center, venue for the alpine skis and skis mountaineering disciplines astatine the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics, successful Bormio, Italy, Thursday, Jan. 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

Moving from glitzy Cortina to Lake Placid would beryllium rather a change

General summons income for the games are astir to commencement pursuing a pre-registration process that drew successful much than 350,000 requests — 70% of them from overseas from much than 210 countries.

Sliding is 1 of the Games’ astir inexpensive attractions with luge events going for arsenic debased arsenic 40 euros ($42) and bobsled for a maximum of 100 euros ($104).

But what happens for summons holders if the sliding way successful Cortina isn’t acceptable and events are moved to Lake Placid?

“It volition beryllium a full antithetic experience,” said Paul Caine, the president of hospitality bundle supplier On Location, astir the imaginable of moving from glitzy Cortina to upstate New York.

Caine noted that portion “nobody wanted to spell to Tahiti” for surfing events successful French Polynesia during past year’s Paris Games, hospitality packages were sold for the sailing competitions successful Marseille, which is located successful confederate France — 3 ½ hours by bid from Paris.

A crane is spot by the Stadio Olimpico del Ghiaccio, which volition beryllium called Cortina Curling Olympic Stadium, venue for the curling subject astatine the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics, successful Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, Thursday, Jan. 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Giovanni Auletta)

On Location has received requests for hospitality packages from 62 countries truthful far, with crystal hockey, biathlon and fig skating the astir fashionable sports.

Private boxes for the opening ceremonial astatine the iconic San Siro shot stadium person already sold out.

Bormio, Anterselva and Val di Fiemme person a agelong past of hosting wintertime sports

These are the archetypal Games to afloat clasp cost-cutting reforms installed by IOC President Thomas Bach and usage mostly existing venues — which has meant scattering the Games each implicit bluish Italy.

Alpine skiing volition beryllium divided betwixt Cortina (for the women’s events) and Bormio (for the men) — which are separated by a 5 ½-hour drive. Livigno volition big freestyle skiing and snowboarding, biathlon volition beryllium successful Anterselva, Nordic events volition beryllium successful Val di Fiemme and crystal sports successful Milan.

A presumption of the Tofane schuss, venue for the alpine skis subject astatine the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics, successful Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, Friday, Jan. 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Alessandro Trovati)

“It’s precise analyzable owed to the large distances and besides due to the fact that of each the antithetic representatives successful each region,” Varnier said. “We person large relationships with everyone but everybody has their ain mode and benignant of doing things, truthful we request to accommodate to them. That’s the tone of these Games: We accommodate to the antithetic territories and not vice versa.”

One crushed that the organizing committee is adapting to each and each venue is that astir of these places person a agelong past of hosting World Cup races and satellite championships.

Olympic rings are seen successful the snowfall astatine the Stelvio Ski Center, venue for the alpine skis and skis mountaineering disciplines astatine the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics, successful Bormio, Italy, Thursday, Jan. 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

For example, Bormio hosted the Alpine skiing worlds successful 1985 and 2005; Cortina hosted the skiing worlds successful 2021 and has been the tract of much than 100 World Cup skis races; Anterselva has hosted six biathlon worlds dating backmost to 1975; Val di Fiemme has hosted 3 Nordic worlds.

Still, nary of that does immoderate bully for an jock similar Ester Ledecka, the Czech wonderment who claimed golds successful some Alpine skiing and snowboarding astatine the 2018 Pyeongchang Games. In 2026, 2 of Ledecka’s races volition beryllium held connected the aforesaid time successful resorts hours isolated — meaning she’ll apt person to take 1 implicit the other.

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