Italian Government wants bobsleigh to remain in country for Milan Cortina 2026
Every effort should be made to keep the sliding sports in Italy when Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo host the 2026 Winter Olympic Games, the country’s Dep... Italian Government has announced plans to move bobsleigh, skeleton and luge from Milan Cortina 2026 to a foreign venue. The proposal was made during a presentation to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Session in Mumbai. The new venue will be built on the site of the demolished Eugenio Monti track, which hosted the sport when Cortina staged the 1956 Winter Olympics. Innsbruck, located about 100 miles away from Cortina in Austria, has already offered use of its sliding track for the Games. However, Italian President Giovanni Malagò has called for Cesana Pariol, the venue that hosted bobobsleigh andluge the last time Italy hosted the Winter Olympic Games at Turin in 2006, to be utilised. This would be the first time in the 102-year history of the Winter Olympics that an event has been staged outside the host country.
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Italian Government wants sliding sports to remain in country for Milan Cortina 2026
Giovanni Malagò, the President of Milan Cortina 2026, formally announced the decision to move bobsleigh, skeleton and luge from Cortina to a foreign venue during a presentation to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Session in Mumbai last week.
Plans to build a new track to host bobsleigh, skeleton and luge on the site of the demolished Eugenio Monti track, which hosted the sport when Cortina staged the 1956 Winter Olympics, stalled when no company bid for the tender as costs began to increase.
Innsbruck, located about 100 miles away from Cortina in Austria, has already offered use of its sliding track for the Games.
Saint Moritz, 200 miles away in Switzerland, could be another contender.
But Tajani wants Cesana Pariol, the venue that staged bobsleigh and luge the last time Italy hosted the Winter Olympic Games at Turin in 2006, to be utilised.
The track, located 150 miles west of Milan, has been closed since 2011 and was nearly completely dismantled the following year.
"Everything must be done to ensure that every competition at the next (Winter) Games takes place on Italian territory," Tajani told Italian news agency ANSA.
"So, if we can use the bobsleigh track used for the Turin Olympics, I think we should do so.
"I spoke with the Piedmont Governor [Alberto Cirio], who is ready to make investments.
"Apart from Melbourne in 1956, competitions have never been held outside the territory of the host nation."
The idea of hosting the sliding events in Cesana Pariol has gathered momentum with Italy's Minister for Public Administration Paolo Zangrillo publicly supporting the idea.
Milan Mayor Giuseppe Sala claimed he would back the plan for Cesana Pariol if it "was the plan that cost the least and had the smallest environmental impact."
It will be the first time in the 102-year history of the Winter Olympics that an event has been staged outside the host country.
But it has happened twice before in the Summer Olympics.
The first came during the 1920 Olympics in Antwerp when, because of a dispute over the course, the final sailing events were moved from Oostende to Amsterdam in The Netherlands.
The second time was during the 1956 Olympics, staged in Melbourne, when the equestrian events took place in Stockholm due to quarantine laws in Australia.
Hong Kong hosted the equestrian events when Beijing staged the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing and Paris 2024 plans to hold the surfing competition in Tahiti, an overseas collectively and an overseas country of France.
Meanwhile, Luca Zaia, President of the region of Veneto where Cortina d'Ampezzo is located, claimed that if sliding events are moved by Milan Cortina 2026 the region should be compensated by moving both the Opening and Closing Ceremonies to the Verona Arena, which has a capacity of around 15,000 people.
The current plans are for Milan's San Siro Stadium, which can hold around 75,000 spectators, to host the Opening Ceremony while the closing event will be held in the Verona Arena.