The opening test races at the controversial sliding venue for the upcoming Milan-Cortina Olympics will proceed without any spectators in attendance. While the track itself is nearing completion, the surrounding area remains a bustling construction zone. The World Cup bobsled and skeleton meet scheduled from Friday to Sunday will also serve as an Olympic test event in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, with luge athletes already trialing the venue ahead of the Feb. 6-22 Games.
Fabio Saldini, the Italian government commissioner overseeing the venue’s construction, mentioned that approximately 250 athletes will have tested the track within a month, providing valuable insights for the future. The old Eugenio Monti track, operational since 1923 and shut down in 2008 due to escalating maintenance expenses, prompted the International Olympic Committee’s preference for holding sliding events at existing tracks in neighboring Austria (Igls) or Switzerland (St. Moritz). Nevertheless, the local organizing committee was compelled by the IOC to devise a backup plan utilizing the facility in Lake Placid, N.Y., if the Cortina track wasn’t completed on time.
Environmental considerations
Despite the race against time to construct the new venue on the old track’s site less than two years before the Games, organizers express confidence in completing the 118 million euros ($136 million US) project within the deadline. Saldini highlighted the optimal ice quality, emphasizing the roof’s coverage and adjustable shades to shield the ice from direct sunlight. Additionally, plans include planting natural grass on the roof to mitigate environmental impact.
Unlike the previous track utilizing solely ammonia, the new venue employs 96% glycol as a more environmentally friendly refrigerant, with ammonia reserved for the compressors in the machine room to ensure cooling. Moreover, the track’s cooling output will serve to cool Cortina’s ice arena during the Olympics, where curling competitions will be held. Post-Olympics, the ice arena will revert to a hockey venue, with plans for a new curling center cooled by the sliding center’s facilities.
World Cup event
It has been nearly two decades since the last World Cup sliding event in Cortina took place in January 2008. The new track, 100 meters longer than its predecessor (1,445 instead of 1,350 meters), now boasts 16 corners compared to the previous 11. Kaillie Humphries-Armbruster, a 40-year-old American bobsledder with three Olympic gold medals, is the sole athlete from a 30-nation field to have competed on the old Cortina track, representing Canada in 2004, 2005, and 2008. In skeleton, local athlete Mattia Gaspari from Cortina seizes the opportunity to compete on home turf for host Italy.