Bobsleigh officials rave about Cortina track, a good sign for 2026 Olympic events being held there

Tim Reynolds · The Associated Press

· Posted: Mar 28, 2025 8:23 PM EDT | Last Updated: 7 minutes ago

Italy appears to beryllium 1 large measurement person to having the sliding events astatine adjacent year's Milan-Cortina Olympics connected its ain way aft all.

The International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation said Friday that it has declared this week's investigating play astatine the Cortina d'Ampezzo way "successful" and that it looks guardant to the 2026 Olympics being held astatine the rebuilt track.

That's not the authoritative connection — that volition apt travel from the International Olympic Committee — but it is the strongest proposition yet that Cortina's ambitious operation task volition bring the Olympic bobsleigh, skeleton and luge races determination and not necessitate the Plan B tract of Lake Placid, New York.

About 60 sliders from 12 countries, fractional of them from Italy, tested the way this week successful what is called pre-homologation. The reports from those sliders, evidently, were positive.

"Minor adaptions inactive request to beryllium done and the main absorption indispensable stay connected the finalization of the operation works," IBSF president Ivo Ferriani said successful a quality merchandise distributed Friday. "The feedback we received from our method experts and the coaches and athletes connected tract this week, has been precise positive. We are thrilled astir this result and the full bobsleigh and skeleton assemblage cannot hold to travel backmost present for our World Cup successful November, further grooming — and past of people the pinnacle of each competition, the Olympic Games."

Work is scheduled to proceed astatine the tract until Nov. 5, astatine which clip the installation — which inactive needs a extortion and event-support buildings — volition beryllium handed implicit to Milan-Cortina organizers.

Simico, the Italian authorities bureau successful complaint of the 118 cardinal euro project, reported affirmative results for the trial runs. But it volition beryllium officials from the IBSF, International Luge Federation and the IOC who find whether to bestow preliminary certification for the track.

Ferriani's words were an indicator that the IBSF is connected board.

Preliminary support would beryllium a large measurement successful avoiding a backup Plan B enactment that the IOC had demanded and which would necessitate moving the 3 sliding sports each the mode to Lake Placid if the way successful Italy wasn't finished successful time. Lake Placid officials were hopeful that, if the sliding events were going to beryllium awarded to the U.S., the authoritative connection would travel by the extremity of March.

Luge athletes are scheduled to person an planetary grooming play astatine the caller way from Oct. 27 done Nov. 2, past instrumentality for a trial lawsuit determination successful the last week of November. The bobsled and skeleton tours volition clasp their planetary grooming play from Nov. 7-16, followed by the season-opening World Cup races determination from Nov. 17-23.

The 1.749-kilometre Cortina way features 16 curves with an estimated apical velocity of 145 kph and with tally times slated for 55-60 seconds.