The announcement of the president of the CONI, Malagò, to the IOC
No reconstruction of the bobsleigh, luge, skeleton and other circuit disciplines in Cortina for the 2026 Winter Olympics. This was announced in Mumbai, during the 141st IOC Session in Mumbai, by the president of CONI, Giovani Malagò, adding that the competitions will take place abroad. Malagò explained that the government no longer intended to continue with the project. The IOC has taken note of the announcement.
“We are already working to explore all possible solutions and alternatives together with the IOC and the international federations,” Malagò told the IOC. Thomas Schwab, general secretary of the German Bobsleigh and Luge Federation, told the German agency dpa, that “a German track is out of the question. The Koenigssee track, partially destroyed by bad weather in July 2021, will not be rebuilt until the end of 2026. Everything leads to Innsbruck/Igls. Not even St. Moritz will host the competitions because there is no artificial ice there and the temperatures at the end of February are not favourable. The hypothesis of the 1992 Olympic track in La Plagne in France.
“This morning I fell out of bed with this news. None of us were aware of this decision”, says Flavio Roda, president of the Italian Winter Sports Federation, guest of Palla al centro on Rai Radio 1 Sport.
“In the past months there has been a lot of talk about this track in Cortina, but it was a fact that in the Olympic presentation dossier the Cortina track was included in the proposal”, he adds. “We knew it was expensive, but we all had the hope of overcoming the obstacles and moving forward with the construction of the track, it was the only solution that gave us the possibility of maintaining bobsleigh, skeleton and luge at a certain level in Italy. We are amazed that we have reached this point. These disciplines will not be practiced in Italy, they will be scuttled. So there is no prospect or idea of encouraging and growing the nursery.”
Source-www.adnkronos.com