Despite opposition, Italy wanted to build a new snowmobile track. The project has garnered opposition from many different parties.
The Olympic venues are talking again. EPA/AOP
Next year’s preparations for the Winter Olympics will heat up in Italy, says the Norwegian broadcasting company NRK.
The Italians decided to build a $ 118 million steering and wheelchair track Cortina d’Amppezzo in the terrain, although the International Olympic Committee Kok opposed the idea.
– We hoped they would rather use a snowmobile track in another city. The Italian authorities wanted all the species to compete in Italy, so they wanted to build a new track. We advised the other Kristin Kloster Comment.
The principles of sustainable development of the IOC include that new places to perform in the Olympics will not be built to hinder nature or cause emissions. Back in October 2023, the Italian Olympic Committee intended to organize sledding in Austria or Switzerland.
In January 2024, the sled turned.
– It is not acceptable for sleds to be organized outside Italy, Deputy Prime Minister Antonio Tajani quoth.
Now there is a snowmobile track under construction. Italian Sports Minister Andrea Abod The cost estimate is EUR 118 million. The invoice is paid by the Italian state.
Protests
In October 2023, Italian bosses went to see if the Torino Olympic track could be renovated for the 2026 races. Aop
Cortina is located in the Dolomite Mountains, whose landscape is on the UNESCO World Heritage List. More than 800 trees were felled from the track.
At least the environmental organization Cipra has shown its mind against the sled. The organization is afraid that the expensive course will not be used.
Italy built a snowmobile track for the 2006 Olympics. It is closed several times because there were too few users and the cost was too high.
– There are only a few dozen enthusiasts in Italy. Even more important than the environmental impact, the huge costs that are created when the track has to be maintained for years after the Olympics, Cipra’s leader Francesco Pastorelli Comment to NRK.
The international federations of the sleds Fil and IBSF have assured that there will be further use on the track.
Abodi is not worried either. According to him, 10,252 trees will be planted in place of the felled forest.
However, the Sports Minister admits that building a track in just a year is a big effort. There is a venue in Lake Placid, USA, but Italy does not believe that it will have to be resorted to.
The snowmobile track is scheduled to be tested in March. It’s not ready yet.
The Winter Olympics will begin on February 6, 2026.
Even in ski jumping problems
Iltalehti reported in January that the Olympic jumping hills were not ready either.
The jumping hills in Predazzo were completely uncompromising at the beginning of January. The renovation has already been delayed twice.
The renovation was supposed to be completed in late summer 2024. This schedule also did not hold and the latest announced completion date is April-May 2025.
-We have been given a binding promise that we can organize competitions for the Grand Prix tour in Predazzo in the summer of 2025. The hills are open for training in the summer of 2025 so that teams can work out and test future Olympic outputs, Fisis Ski Jumping Director Sandro Pertile Comment in a bulletin sent in June.
According to an expert reached by Iltalehti, the renovation would actually be completed just before the Olympics or in the future in the future.