Full speed ahead with Cortina bobsleigh track “renaissance” plans

The reconstruction of the fabled, yet now dilapidated, “Eugenio Monti” bobsleigh track, which snakes through the woods just above Cortina d’Ampezzo, will bring a renaissance of the sliding sports to the 1956 Olympic Winter Games resort, according to Veneto region president Luca Zaia.

Zaia insists that the intricate Olympic venue construction project will be sustainable and provide new opportunities for a young generation of athletes, while building upon the Italian resort’s rich bobsleigh history and legacy of decades past.

“Today, we laugh at an excellent corpse that will become the icon of the Olympic and Paralympic games of Milan Cortina 2026,” Zaia said, at a news conference in Venice earlier this week. “At 70 years after the first Olympiad of Cortina, the ‘Queen of the Dolomites’ will return to shine in the sign of sustainability and legacy, delivering to young generations essential Games projected into the future.”

Zaia announced the cost of the project at 61 million Euros – a figure which includes demolishing the existing structure and then redevelopment of the new facility from the ground up – with the expense to be covered by funds allocated from the region. The Italian politician informed that 42 million Euros have already been approved and additional funding is being awaited from the region, as well as contributions from the municipality and province.

“The Cortina Track will not only be an infrastructure, but it will become the emblem of these ‘Five Rings’, returning to Europe by taking a more natural and sustainable dimension,” Zaia said.

The Veneto region president, who was instrumental in Milano-Cortina winning its bid for the 2026 Winter Games in June 2019, provided the news and updates, while accompanied by International Bobsleigh and Skeleton federation (IBSF) president Ivo Ferriani at Venice’s Palazzo Balbi.

Ferriani, an IOC member and the president of the association of winter sports federations (AIOWF), emphasizes a link between sports and tourism that will be the fulcrum of the new track, with current athletes engaged in the project.

“We shared this project with President Zaia in the spirit of offering the Venetian mountain a great opportunity that will not run out with the 2026 Olympics,” Ferriani said. “The International Federation is at the side of this project and intends to guarantee a whole series of competitions to keep the attention on these fast sporting disciplines.”

The IOC, which initially suggested that 2026 sliding sports be moved to an existing track in St. Moritz or Innsbruck to reduce costs, finally gave its approval of the track renovation following a financial agreement reached between Veneto and Cortina last winter.

Bobsleigh, skeleton, luge and Para-bob will all be accessible at the future Italian sliding track and refrigeration plant.

Ferriani noted that World Cup competition will take to the ice starting in 2027 and all efforts are being made in a request that Para-bob be included on the 2026 Paralympics sport program. The track is being designed as the first in the world to fully accommodate para-sport.

Additionally, the track will also be maintained and subsidized through revenues from public bobsled rides, both on the ice in winter and in wheeled sleds in summer

The assessment, determinations, estimated costs and future vision for the sports infrastructure project have been based on an feasibility study that was conducted entitled “Are sports events necessarily black holes for public finances, the case of Milan-Cortina 2026?” The economic study was a joint effort by the Ca Foscari University of Venice and the Unioncamere Veneto, as part of Milan-Cortina’s bid.

The track will also be maintained and funded through revenues from public rides, both on the ice in winter and via wheeled sleds in summer.

In total, the sport and political leaders involved in the project, provided answers to 70 questions about the reconstruction of the ‘Eugenio Monti’ Bobsled track and related to further preparations for the 2026 Winter Games.

The track will continue to be named in honor of Italian bobsleigh pilot legend Monti, a Cortina resident who won six Olympic medals and ten world championship medals between 1956 and 1968. Monti was awarded the ‘Pierre de Coubertin” medal for his acts of sportsmanship at the Olympics by the IOC.

The venue was also used in an action-packed scene of the James Bond movie “For Your Eyes Only” in 1981 with actor Roger Moore.

The Cortina sliding track was opened for international competition in 1923 and underwent four renovations before it fell into ruin in 2008. At the 1956 Olympics, the track provided a stern test with 16 curves at a length of 1,720 meters. Nine world championships have also been contested at the Cortina venue, the most recent in 1999.

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