The Olympic Games will take place in northern Italy at the beginning of February. But not everything is as it should be.
December 21, 2025, 04:49December 21, 2025, 04:49
Benjamin Zurmühl / t-online
Bormio, Antholz, Cortina d’Ampezzo. The list of competition locations for the 2026 Winter Olympics with a great winter sports tradition is impressive. Nevertheless, if Johan Eliasch is to be believed, the preparations for the big event next February are anything but smooth. Because the president of the World Ski Association raised the alarm about the snow conditions a month and a half before the games. The delays in the preparations are “inexplicable,” said the Fis boss on the sidelines of the Women’s Alpine World Cup in Val d’Isère, France.
Johan Eliasch is not satisfied with Italy’s Olympic preparations.Image: keystone
“Not everything is ready” for the Olympics, the Swedish-British official explained:
“The Italian government and the regions hosting the Games still have a lot to do and need to accelerate preparations.”
The greatest concern is therefore about the facilities in Livigno, where the snowboard and ski freestyle competitions are to take place.
“We call three times a day”
The organizing committee for the games in Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo had already confirmed to the AFP news agency last week that there had been a technical problem in the production of artificial snow on site.
This is also why the worry lines for Eliasch and his team are so big. “We call three times a day, morning, afternoon and evening,” explained the Fis boss:
“There is this problem with snow production. There were delays. Unfortunately, the Italian government has not released any funds, so the organizers are struggling to survive.
Even if there are alternative plans, you are now in a situation that you “should never have been in,” said Eliasch.
In order to be able to cover the snow park in Livigno with snow and create the elements, jumps and half pipes required for the competitions, the organizers have to produce large quantities of artificial snow. Their snow cannons are supplied with water from the Monte Sponda reservoir, a mountain reservoir with a capacity of 203,000 cubic meters.
The construction of the 21.7 million euro reservoir was completed at the end of November. The production of artificial snow was originally scheduled to begin last week.
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