The Olympic flame on Thursday arrived in Rome as the Milan-Cortina Winter Games hove into view, but organizers are rushing to make sure everything is ready for a sprawling sports showcase spread across a vast area of northern Italy.
Just two months remain until the start of the Winter Olympics, which run over Feb. 6 to 22, and there are concerns over a number of sites, most notably the Santa Giulia Arena near Milan which is scheduled to host the ice hockey tournament, but is still a building site.
While the flame takes a 60-day trip around Italy on its way to Milan, where the main opening ceremony is to be held, another Olympic tradition is being respected in the form of a late dash to complete works at a clutch of venues.
Photo: Reuters
Milan-Cortina’s organizing committee declined to comment on some alarming reports, but International Olympic Committee Olympic Games executive director Christophe Dubi said that “pressure” was felt.
“You will know if you were involved with Paris 2024 [summer Olympics], some things are delivered late, because that’s just the nature of the business, the most significant investments are made in the final months,” Dubi said on Wednesday last week on a visit to 2030 Winter Olympic sites in France.
As well as Santa Giulia, the snow park in mountain town Livigno, which is planned to host snowboarding and freestyle skiing events is also under scrutiny.
Last week, International Ski Federation secretary general Michel Vion expressed concern about delays to the site’s artificial snow system, without which the jumps and ramps needed for the events cannot be built.
“Apparently, the hillside reservoir is completed, but they haven’t received the permits to fill the lake yet,” Vion said. “A reservoir without water is quite problematic. We are still a bit concerned, because the need for snow is significant for these disciplines.”
SiMiCo, the Italian state-owned company responsible for delivering the Olympic venues, said that the use of snow cannons should be possible by the middle of this week.
“The low temperatures we have in Livigno mean that we’re not worried at all,” SiMiCo CEO Fabio Massimo Saldini said.
However, it is Santa Giulia which is still the biggest concern, as the arena is supposed to host stars of the world’s biggest ice hockey league, the NHL, who are returning to the Games after a 12-year absence.
International Ice Hockey Federation president Luc Tardif fumed to Radio Canada that “the facilities in Milan are not up to standard.”
However, the project’s private developer Eventim said that the arena would be delivered next month, a month later than originally scheduled, as “580 workers on two shifts” rush to get it ready.
Milan-Cortina organizers confirmed on Wednesday last week that a key test event for the arena would be held from Jan. 9 to 11, with seven club matches being played on the rink over those three days.
Meanwhile, at Cortina d’Ampezzo, it is a cable car rather than a competition venue which is causing headaches.
The Apollonio-Socrepes ski lift is supposed to transport spectators to the women’s alpine skiing events and alleviate congestion in the chic resort in the Dolomite mountains.
However, works only began in July due to a combination of legal challenges and terrain issues, meaning that organizers have had to limit ticket sales for fans who want to see stars such as Mikaela Shiffrin, Lindsey Vonn and local hero Sofia Goggia compete on the famous Olimpia delle Tofane.
A weary sounding Saldini said that “the works will be completed in time for the Games.”
“Italy will be ready,” he added. “We were also told that the curling rink and bobsleigh track wouldn’t be ready, but each time we got it done.”
The bobsleigh track at Cortina was a huge question mark for the Games, due to its construction only starting in February last year following a political firestorm caused by organizers originally deciding to hold the sliding events abroad.
The International Luge Federation competition director Matthias Boehmer said that there are “no negatives” about the track following the success of recent test events.
“For us, the Olympics could start tomorrow,” Boehmer said.
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