The president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), Thomas Bach, said this Thursday (6), exactly one year before the start of the Winter Olympics in Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo, that Italy is “ready” to host the mega sporting event.
The occasion was celebrated with an event at a Milan theater, attended by the head of the IOC and Italian political authorities.
“Italy is ready to write the next chapter of its Olympic history,” Bach said. This will be the third time the country has hosted the Winter Games, after Cortina in 1956 and Turin in 2006, at a time when Italian Olympic sport is experiencing the best phase in its history.
“We all look forward to an Olympics characterized by Italy’s passion for sport and which will showcase Italy’s unique culture and heritage,” the IOC President stressed, adding that the competitions will be held in “iconic locations with a rich winter sports tradition.”
The races will take place in seven cities spread across three regions in the north of the peninsula: Milan, Bormio and Livigno, in Lombardy; Cortina d'Ampezzo, in Veneto; and Predazzo, Rasun-Anterselva and Tesero, in Trentino Alto-Adige.
The opening ceremony will be held at the San Siro Stadium in Milan, while the closing ceremony will take place at the ancient Verona Arena, the best-preserved Roman amphitheatre in the world, in Veneto.
“These will be sustainable Olympics, without waste and with a great legacy, with public works that will be useful for the entire community,” said Lombard Governor Attilio Fontana. Meanwhile, Italy’s Deputy Prime Minister and Infrastructure Minister Matteo Salvini said the Games were “the triumph of the ‘yes’” and criticized “newspaper headlines that said the Olympics would not happen.”
The biggest concern in recent months has been the bobsled and skeleton track in Cortina, but the governor of Veneto, Luca Zaia, assured that the work will be completed “ahead of schedule” and will receive “the first test in March”.
There was even consideration of holding these events in Austria, but the organizers maintained their plan to build the track in Cortina, despite protests from environmentalists against the cutting down of centuries-old trees in the region. (HANDLE)
