One year out from the Milan Cortina Games, Olympic chief says 'Italy is ready.' But is it?

MILAN (AP) — The one-year countdown to the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics is on. IOC president Thomas Bach proclaimed on Thursday, “Italy is ready.”

Is it?

Italy has ski resorts in abundance and spectacular mountains but one pressing concern remains rebuilding the century-old sliding center in Cortina d’Ampezzo.

The International Olympic Committee has set a deadline for the end of next month for pre-certification of the Cortina track. There is a Plan B option that would require moving bobsled, luge and skeleton events all the way to Lake Placid, New York, if it isn’t finished in time.

Luca Zaia, the president of the Veneto region which encompasses Cortina, laughed when asked by reporters if there was any possibility the sliding events would have to take place across the Atlantic.

“Absolutely not!” he said with a chuckle. “You should see it … you can see the whole track at this point. We are really ahead with the work.”

With 180 people working from 6 a.m. to 1 a.m. every day to build the sliding center, the first ice is slated to be laid on the track at the start of March.

“We are absolutely on track with it, even better than the planned schedule” Zaia said. “Having said this, I also want to remind everyone first and foremost that the sliding track is not something we are creating on an untouched mountain side. We went to salvage a dump, an excellent skeleton that was the old, abandoned sliding track.”

One year to go

Zaia spoke to reporters after an event on Thursday to mark exactly one year to go until the opening ceremony of the 2026 Olympic Games in Milan’s iconic San Siro stadium.

Bach was more succinct when asked if he had concerns part of the Games would have to take place in the United States.

“No,” he said with a smile.

Earlier, Bach gave an address at the event at Milan’s Teatro Strehler, where guests included past and present athletes as well as politicians from the cities and regions involved in the Olympics.

“From the bottom of my heart, thank you to all of you who have supported this project since the very first day and are working together so seamlessly to make it a resounding success,” Bach said

“In this way you are all setting the stage for the world’s best winter sport athletes, in an excellent way. Italy is ready. Italy is ready to write the next chapter of its great Olympic history.”

These are the first Olympics to fully embrace cost-cutting reforms installed by Bach, and use mostly existing venues — which has meant scattering the Games all over northern Italy.

“Milano Cortina will be the first Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games to fully benefit from our Olympic Agenda reforms from start to finish,” Bach said. "From the natural beauty of the Dolomites and the Italian Alps to the cosmopolitan energy of Milan, these Olympic Winter Games will offer an unforgettable blend of sport and Italian flair and sophistication.

“The competitions will take place in venues that are iconic and steeped in winter sports traditions. Most of them are already hosting world-class events year on year. Milano Cortina 2026 is taking these Olympic Winter Games to places where winter sports are part of the local identity.”

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AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/winter-olympics