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Rebuilding abandoned bobsled track for 2026

ROME — Organizers for the 2026 Olympics are sticking with their plans to spend 50 million euros ($60 million) to rebuild an abandoned bobsled track in Cortina d’Ampezzo and take on the risky proposition of holding speedskating at an outdoor oval in Baselga di Piné.

Italian Olympic Committee president Giovanni Malagò, who also leads the organizing committee for the Milan-Cortina Games, offered an update on the venues Tuesday during a presentation of the 2026 logos.

“As far as the track for bobsled, skeleton and luge, all of the problems have been resolved,” Malagò said. “It’s been completely resolved, thanks also to the excellent cooperation between the organizing committee, the Veneto region and (Veneto president) Luca Zaia, the town of Cortina, the IOC and the international federations.”

The location of the sliding venue has been a source of debate because of concern from the International Olympic Committee about runaway spending and white elephant venues.

The IOC had suggested that instead of spending heavily to rebuild the Cortina track, that sliding events could be contested at a venue in neighboring Switzerland (St. Moritz) or Austria (Igls) instead.

Ever since Russia’s overall spending linked to the 2014 Sochi Olympics topped $50 billion, the IOC has been anxious to curb all infrastructure spending by local organizers. That policy allows for taking events to another country to cut costs. Despite its closure 13 years ago for financial reasons, the century-old bobsled track in Cortina is still a source of pride in the Dolomites resort.

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