Green light for Winter Olympics bobsleigh and luge slope
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The Cortina Sliding Centre will host bobsleigh, skeleton and luge competitions during the Milano-Cortina Winter Olympic Games 2026.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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CORTINA D’AMPEZZO – The troubled 2026 Winter Olympics bobsleigh and luge slope was given the provisional green light on March 28, following a week of testing by the two sports’ international federations.
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.”
The official stamp of approval comes three days after the Cortina d’Ampezzo track’s inauguration.
Italy’s Mattia Gaspari is unlikely to be among the gold medallists in the Dolomites from Feb 6 to 22 in 2026, but the 31-year-old skeleton specialist made history on March 25 as the first to race down the much-discussed track. Those from Team USA, including five-time bobsleigh world champion and thrice Olympic gold medallist Kaillie Humphries, also tried it.
In total, 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. Simico stated: “The work is scheduled to be completed on Nov 5, 2025.”
When work began in February 2024, late for a project of this scale and complexity, many doubted that it could be completed.
Not Mr Matteo Salvini, the second-in-command and Minister of Transport in Giorgia Meloni’s hard-right government.
He 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, the organisers had named American ski resort Lake Placid as their “Plan B” should Cortina d’Ampezzo not be ready in time.
The March 28 announcement suggests “Plan A” is firmly on course for use in 11 months.
AFP, REUTERS
