American Frank Del Duca navigates the lower portion of the track during the fourth and final run Sunday in the two-man bobsled competition at the IBSF World Championships in Lake Placid. Del Duca and his brakeman Charles Volker finished fourth in the competition. (Provided photo — Lou Reuter)

LAKE PLACID — This village’s chance of hosting a third Olympics seems out of the question … at least for now.

The United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee received notification in mid-April that the Lake Placid-New York State’s Plan B bid to host the sliding events at the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games will not be activated, according to state Olympic Regional Development Authority Communications Director Darcy Rowe Norfolk.

The decision comes nearly six months after Lake Placid was selected as the Plan B location for the Olympic sliding sports if the Cortina Sliding Center had not been built in time. The bid was chosen over two other potential host sites — St. Moritz, Switzerland and Igls/Innsbruck, Austria.

Norfolk said ORDA, USOPC and the State of New York were honored to have been entrusted with the designation of being the Plan B site, and with the opportunity to have contributed to the Olympic Movement.

“I think it’s been a great exercise for Lake Placid to put ourselves out there and raise the bar within the Olympic Movement because we’re still here, and we’re still present, hosting and competing and even being called on for the highest level of competition,” she said. “It’s maybe feeling a little bit of closure from one perspective, but probably opening us up for future opportunities, too.”

While Norfolk noted that the Olympics are the highest level of competition when it comes to sliding sports, the Mount Van Hoevenberg track hosted the IBSF World Championships in March, which is just a step down from that, and the site is capable of hosting large-scale events.

“We’ve seen that through the FISU World University Games, and we’ve seen it now on different levels of World Cups and World Championships,” she said. “We’re in demand and we’re always hopeful for the best events that provide a place for the best experiences not only for the community, but for the athletes and the Olympic Movement.”

Norfolk added that Lake Placid is continuing to provide year-round world-class facilities for training and competition and it looks forward to providing an experience for athletes readying for the Games in Italy.

The 2026 Olympic sliding sports, which include bobsled, luge and skeleton, are slated to take place at the nearly completed rebuild of the historic Eugenio Monti track in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy. The site hosted the 1956 Winter Olympics, but was shut down in 2008, before undergoing a complete rebuild throughout most of 2024. No modern sliding track has been built in such a short timeframe.

In March, around 60 international luge, bobsled and skeleton athletes were invited to test out the Milano-Cortina track for the first time. Among those invited were USA Luge’s Sophia Kirkby of Ray Brook, her doubles luge partner Chevonne Forgan of Chelmsford, Massachusetts and head coach Lubomir Mick.

The pre-homologation of the Cortina Sliding Centre ultimately yielded positive results from the International Luge Federation, the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation and the International Olympic Committee.

After hearing about the pre-homologation, USOPC sent a letter to the Fondazione on April 9, reaffirming the commitment, while requesting for follow-up by April 30 to properly activate the level of planning outlined in the bid package. The USOPC received a response from Fondazione on April 16, stating that they will not be activating Plan B.

“They sent us a great letter, and it really was very gracious and provided some nice messages to us about putting ourselves out there in the position that we did to help support,” Norfolk said. “We’re open to future collaborations, and we’re happy for them.”

Norfolk said it’s been a good experience for Lake Placid and a positive one for the region.

“It kind of renewed a sense of excitement and the Olympic spirit here in Lake Placid, it’s ingrained into the fabric of our community, history and heritage of Olympic sport,” she said. “Just to be one slice of the Olympics and to be trusted in the designation to be a backup, an ocean apart from another host city, is definitely a nice recognition of who we are, what we do and what we’re capable of.”

Mount Van Hoevenberg is slated to host the FIL World Cup for luge from Dec. 19 to 21, which could serve as an Olympic qualifier. The site may also host a North American Cup for bobsled and skeleton in 2025.

The Olympic Winter Games in Milano-Cortina will take place from Feb. 6 to 22, 2026.

“While we might not be hosting sliding events in February, we’ll be celebrating from afar in a different way,” Norfolk said.