Sawt Falasteen - Milan-Cortina bobsleigh track 'surpasses expectations', say Winter Olympics organisers

Cortina d'Ampezzo will host the sliding events after a gamble from the Italian government to build a track paid off, ensuring bobsleigh, luge, and skeleton medals will be contested in Italy rather than abroad.

"The sliding centre in Cortina has surpassed expectations," said Kristin Kloster, the chair of the Milan-Cortina coordination commission, told reporters at a press conference in Milan.

Organisers considered using existing sites in Austria or Switzerland before Matteo Salvini, the second-in-command and Minister of Transport in Giorgia Meloni's hard-right government, insisted in late 2023 the events be held in the Mediterranean country.

That meant a race against time to build a track in ski haven Cortina which was completed for pre-approval in March and is ready for the Olympics.

The decision to build the Cortina track, at an official cost of 120 million euros ($142 million), had caused some worry within the International Olympic Committee it would not be possible to build it on schedule.

"We had issues with the sliding centre. We thought the timeline was too short and also we thought that the legacy benefit from the new sliding centre would probably not meet the expectations that we wanted," added Koster, an IOC executive board remember.

"Having said all that, the decision from the national authorities in Italy to build a sliding centre... has surpassed our expectations.

"They have delivered on time. The sliding centre has been tested by athletes already and I think it's all going really, really well. So I'm impressed with the work."

Kloster added the Olympic village in Milan is "structurally ready" ahead of a visit on Thursday by IOC president Kirsty Coventry.

Two-time Olympic swimming champion Coventry, 41, became the first woman to head the IOC after being picked to replace Thomas Bach in March.

- Political headaches -

So far around 800,000 of 1.2 million tickets have been sold, and Milan-Cortina CEO Andrea Varnier said he is "confident" the remaining tickets will be sold before the start of the Games.

The Olympic opening ceremony is on February 6 at the San Siro stadium, though curling kicks off the action two days earlier, with he Paralympics open a month later on March 6.

And one headache for organisers is the potential for disruption along the Olympic torch's route to the San Siro, a journey which will begin after the handover ceremony in Athens on December 4.

The torch's snaking trip around Italy could be vulnerable to protests similar to those which stopped the final stage of Vuelta a Espana cycling race from arriving at its final destination of Madrid.

The three-week Grand Tour was targeted by pro-Palestinian demonstrators due to the presence in the stage race of the Israel Premier Tech team.

"Regarding the geopolitical situation, it's been volatile for quite a while," said Christophe Dubi, the Olympic Games' Executive Director.

"Always, no matter where, no matter when, always a certain level of risk that you need to address. And here, to your point, full trust in the work that is being done. We have the security coordinators of the government with us yesterday. It's great work being done."

Dubi added the IOC's executive board meeting, to be held on Thursday and Friday in Milan, would not look into the participation of Israeli athletes as the country's Olympic committee is "fully in compliance with the Olympic Charter".

The same cannot be said of the Russian Olympic Committee whose athletes are however expected to be permitted to compete under a neutral flag as they did at last year's summer Games in Paris.

M.AbuKhalil--SF-PST