Cortina '26 Olympics, government about-face:the bobsleigh track will not be built

After months of debates and protests for the controversial reconstruction of the bobsleigh track in Cortina in view of the 2026 Cortina Winter Olympics, today's news is that the works to adapt the circuit will not be carried out and therefore the bobsleigh, luge and skeleton races will be hosted on another track abroad.It has made known this morning the president of CONI (Italian National Olympic Committee), Giovanni Malagò, based on information received from the government during a meeting of the International Olympic Committee (IOC, the world's highest sports body) in Mumbai, India.The main reasons why the facility will not be renovated (a bobsled track in Cortina already exists) lie in the fact that no company accepted the assignment due to the high costs and very short timescales:the tender for the construction site included 807 days of work and at the moment there are around 830 days until the start of the Olympics.In any case, the track should be finished much earlier, at least by the end of November 2024, for the testing and trial races essential to obtain certification from the IOC.Furthermore, if the forecasts of the Veneto Region and the Milano Cortina Foundation initially estimated a cost of 85 million euros, the increase in the costs of raw materials has increased the figure which, according to Luca Zaia, could reach up to 120 million euros .All this led the government and the Milano Cortina Foundation to give up on the project, agreeing to hold the competitions abroad, probably in Innsbruck in Austria.

A victory for activists and environmental associations against the project who have been demonstrating for months to stop the works:the latter, in fact, would entail thefelling of a large number of larches, as they would cover a large amount of land.Which would further deteriorate an already compromised territory.For this reason, last August some activists took action tied to trees which should have been shot down shouting "We don't want the runway".An understandable protest if we consider, in addition to the environmental damage, the huge costs for the public purse especially given the fact that it is a structure that is unlikely to be used after the 2026 Olympic Games.The IOC itself, moreover, had advised against rebuilding it, considering that it is possible to use the one in Innsbruck, just across the Austrian border.The Milano Cortina Foundation, however, has always rejected the proposals of the mayor of the Austrian town, Georg Willi, due to the promises made to the Cortina administration.

Now, however, after all the public tenders - organized by Simico, the company that manages the contract - have ended resolved into nothing and after Malagò's announcement, the president of the Austrian Olympic Committee, Karl Stoss, told the CONI president that «Austria is a potential candidate and would be happy to support you»:the hypothesis that the Innsbruck runway will be used, therefore, appears increasingly probable.In this case, the restructuring interventions would amount to a total of 27 million euros of which 12.5 would be paid by Italy.It is, therefore, a notable one savings for public coffers compared to the 120 million estimated to fix the circuit in Cortina, but above all there would be significant environmental benefits by avoiding deforestation and overbuilding of part of the territory.The IOC, which is in favor of the reuse of existing plants, welcomed Italy's waiver, speaking of a "responsible decision".

The good sustainability intentions expressed by the Milano Cortina Foundation (which otherwise would have remained exclusively on paper) will therefore - in part - be realized only thanks to the fact that no available companies were found to complete the work.In this way, huge public funds will also be saved for a work deemed "unnecessary" by the IOC itself.

[by Giorgia Audiello]