Reporting from Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy – Call it the Italian ‘Miracle on Ice,’ an Olympic legacy project that has overcome all odds, adversity, and doubters, one whose fate seemed doomed to fail.
The reconstruction of the historic Eugenio Monti Olympic sliding track in Cortina d’Ampezzo – which was used for the 1956 Cortina Olympic Games and was originally built more than 100-years ago – was mired in delays, uncertainty, rising costs, protests, and ultimately fell on extremely thin ice without a capable Italian contractor willing to accept the high-risk project.
With rapidly approaching deadlines and significant IOC concerns, Milan-Cortina 2026 president Giovanni Malagò announced at the 144th IOC Session in Mumbai in October 2023 that the Olympic sliding events would be moved to an existing venue abroad.
Still, some Italians did not give up hope. Finally, at the last possible moment, in early 2024, local construction company Pizzarotti stepped in as the only bidder for a second tender launched by Simico (Società Infrastrutture Milano Cortina), the Milan Cortina 2026 Games’ construction delivery company. Construction finally broke ground in February 2024, on a project with a price tag of roughly 120 million euros (USD $124.4 million).
With the Olympic bobsled track in Lake Placid announced as a back-up plan, engineers and construction crews worked relentlessly, and the job was completed at lightning-fast speed, meeting the late March deadline. Italians will tell you that a great work of art takes time. In fairness, it took Michelangelo four years to paint the Sistine Chapel.
International bobsleigh, skeleton and luge athletes tested the ice and curves at the reconstructed track, March 24-28. The inaugural World Cup and Olympic test event is now scheduled for November 17-22, launching the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation (IBSF) winter season.
The initial testing was deemed a success. Athletes are ecstatic about the once again operational Italian Dolomites sporting venue, tucked away on the mountainside just above Cortina’s 1956 Olympic Ice Stadium.
“I was fifth in the world this winter, so I hope that training at this new track will take me to the top next season,” said Italian bobsleigh pilot Patrick Baumgartner. “The track is not just for the athletes, but for the entire community to enjoy.”
Sixty athletes from twelve nations across bobsleigh, skeleton, and luge were involved in the “pre-homologation” period of testing the track. The revised track runs 1,730 meters in length with 16 curves, retaining famed curves such as Antelao, Crystallo and Bandion.
USA luge doubles competitor Chevonne Forgan said it was an overall positive experience for the mix of international athletes across three disciplines.
“The track has been amazing – I wasn’t really sure what to expect coming here because the schedule has been up in the air and the construction is so new, but from the first day of sliding it was in such incredible condition,” Forgan said. “The ice was so smooth, the curves and flow was working out great.
“Each day, the crew made many improvements based on the recommendations that the athletes were making, so it was such a cool experience.”
International Bobsled and Skeleton Federation (IBSF) president and IOC Executive Board member Ivo Ferriani shared his excitement and gratitude for the work that has been completed.
“I wear different jackets, but this is a proud moment for all of us – as an Italian, I am absolutely proud,” Ferriani said. “It was normal to have some doubt – to build this track, with such quality in such a short time, is a world record.”
Asked about the future of the venue, Ferriani replied with a chuckle: “It will be here for the third Olympics in Cortina someday. The legacy is about the people.”
While the legacy, sustainability and daily operations of maintaining a costly venue remains a big question, the answer is off to a fast start considering that the 2028 Winter Youth Olympic Games will be contested in northern Italy. The sliding venue will assuredly be used by the young athletes.
Back to the business at hand and according to Simico, the completion of the roof and all adjacent structures is scheduled for November 5, followed by the official homologation and handover to the Milano Cortina 2026 Foundation.
Veneto president Luca Zaia has been a staunch supporter of the controversial project ever since Milan-Cortina 2026 won the bid in June 2019.
“For me, this is a big dream – this sliding center will not only be a monument for sports, but also for engineering and art, because it is such a unique and strong structure here in the mountains,” Zaia said.
In its original bid to the IOC, Milan-Cortina 2026 stated they would provide “A Smooth Venue Delivery Process” and “The Most Sustainable, Inspirational, Memorable Winter Games Ever.”
The first might not have happened, but at least the track is now functional. The second question will be answered in eight months time.
The storied tradition of the venerable Italian bobsled track will enter a new chapter over the years ahead.
At Cortina 1956 Games, the Italian duo of driver Lamberto Dalla Costa and brakeman Giacomo Conti won Italy’s only gold medal in the two-man event. Their teammates Eugenio Monti and Renzo Alverà claimed silver, while also finishing runner-up in the four-man event.
The legendary Monti – who represented the Bob Club Cortina throughout his illustrious career and remains a local legend – amassed six Olympic medals, including two golds at Grenoble 1968. For his great sportsmanship at the Innsbruck 1964 Games – a magnanimous gesture of lending bolts from his sled to the eventual British Olympic champions Tony Nash and Robin Dixon – Monti was honored by the IOC as the first recipient of the Pierre de Coubertin International Fair Play Award in 1965.
Twelve Olympic gold medals will be awarded for bobsleigh, luge and skeleton at the Eugenio Monti Olympic Sliding Center in February 2026.
The highly-anticipated Olympic test event in November will mark the first IBSF (formerly FIBT) World Cup contested in Italy since 2011, when the 2006 Torino Olympic venue Cesana Pariol hosted an event.
