Milan-Cortina bobsleigh track 'surpasses expectations' - Winter Olympics organisers

The bobsleigh track for the 2026 Winter Olympics has "surpassed expectations" after being completed in time for the Milan-Cortina Games, organisers said on Wednesday.

Cortina d'Ampezzo will host the sliding events after a gamble from the Italian government to build a track paid off, ensuring bobsleigh, luge, and skeleton medals will be contested in Italy rather than abroad.

"The sliding centre in Cortina has surpassed expectations," said Kristin Kloster, the chair of the Milan-Cortina coordination commission, told reporters.

Organisers considered using existing sites in Austria or Switzerland before Matteo Salvini, the second-in-command and Minister of Transport in Giorgia Meloni's hard-right government, insisted in late 2023 the events be held in the Mediterranean country.

That meant a race against time to build a track in ski haven Cortina which was completed for pre-approval in March and is ready for the Olympics.

The decision to build the Cortina track, at an official cost of €120 million ($142 million), had caused some worry within the International Olympic Committee it would not be possible to build it on schedule.

"We had issues with the sliding centre. We thought the timeline was too short and also we thought that the legacy benefit from the new sliding centre would probably not meet the expectations that we wanted," added Koster, an IOC executive board remember.

"Having said all that, the decision from the national authorities in Italy to build a sliding centre... has surpassed our expectations.

"They have delivered on time. The sliding centre has been tested by athletes already and I think it's all going really, really well. So I'm impressed with the work."

Kloster added the Olympic village in Milan is "structurally ready" ahead of a visit on Thursday by IOC president Kirsty Coventry.

Two-time Olympic swimming champion Coventry, 41, became the first woman to head the IOC after being picked to replace Thomas Bach in March.

So far around 800 000 of 1.2 million tickets have been sold, and Milan-Cortina CEO Andrea Varnier said he is "confident" the remaining tickets will be sold before the start of the Games.

The Olympic opening ceremony is on 6 February at the San Siro stadium, though curling kicks off the action two days earlier.

The Paralympics open a month later on 6 March.