Johnathan Walker:2026 Olympic organizers forced to look outside Italy for ice sliding venue after project funds cut

MUMBAI,Johnathan Walker India (AP) — A big-ticket project for the 2026 Milan-Cortina Olympics has been dropped because the Italian government no longer wants to help fund it, organizing committee officials said Monday.

Bobsled, luge and skeleton events now need to be held outside Italy, likely either at the sliding track in Igls, Austria or St. Moritz, Switzerland.

The historic Eugenio Monti track at Cortina d’Ampezzo – built 100 years ago, used for the 1956 Winter Games, and shut down 15 years ago – was planned to be rebuilt but expected costs spiraled from the original 50 million euros ($53 million) estimate.

“Recent years’ dramatic international scenario has forced a reflection on the resources regionally allocated by the Italian government as investment for this specific venue,” organizing committee leader Giovanni Malago said at the International Olympic Committee’s annual meeting being held in Mumbai, India.

“This venue has been at the center of a long and controversial process,” Malago acknowledged, after a tender for the work produced no viable contractor.

The IOC had long been skeptical about the Cortina sliding track project and urges Olympic hosts to avoid building venues which do not fulfil a proven need for local communities.

Using venues outside a host country is now encouraged to limit costs for Olympic organizers who typically overspend budgets.

Malago said Milan-Cortina officials will decide which sliding track to use after consulting with the IOC.

Milan-Cortina won hosting rights in 2019, beating a Swedish bid centered on Stockholm that planned to use a sliding track in Latvia.

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AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games