If there are still problems with the construction of the ice track for the 2026 Winter Olympics, the bobsleigh and sled athletes would hold their competitions 6,000 kilometers away.
Lake Placid instead of Cortina d’Ampezzo: The ice channel in the US state of New York is available as an alternative for the 2026 Winter Olympics. “Lake Placid is our official plan B, but just in case we can’t get to Cortina”the organizers told the AFP news agency on Friday: “A scenario ruled out by the reassuring information that continues to arrive.”
The alternative plan is necessary because, after some back and forth, the construction contract for the ice track in Cortina was only awarded last February. The facility for the tobogganing, skeleton and bobsleigh competitions should be ready by March 2025. The International Olympic Committee (IOC), which had clearly spoken out in favor of moving the competitions abroad, demanded a plan B from the organizing committee in view of the time frame.
Lake Placid would be 6,000 kilometers away
In addition to Lake Placid, which has already taken part in the Olympic Games twice (1932 and 1980), there was also speculation that the event would take place on the artificial ice rink in Innsbruck-Igls or on the purely natural ice rink in St. Moritz. Now the railway in the USA, which is over 6,000 kilometers away from Cortina d’Ampezzo, has been awarded the contract.
The construction of the canal in Cortina is currently proceeding according to plan, SIMICO, the company responsible for infrastructure projects in connection with the Games, emphasized in mid-December. A few days later she announced that 67 percent of the work had been completed. The first test drives on the track are scheduled to take place in Italy in March.