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Innsbruck tries again. And for the second time the mayor of the Austrian city writes to the Milano Cortina 2026 Foundation proposing his own bobsleigh track for the Winter Olympics, given that at the moment the one to be built in Cortina has not yet found any available companies. «The Land Tyrol and the City of Innsbruck, as owners of the Olympic ice rink in Innsbruck, can guarantee the approval of the ice rink both from a financial point of view and from that of carrying out the necessary works», explains Georg Willi, together to deputy governor Georg Dornauer.
It’s a shame though that things wouldn’t be so easy in Innsbruck either. In fact, in the same letter it is explained that the Austrian track itself “no longer complies with international guidelines and that the approval expires at the end of 2024”.
For this reason, the following interventions would be necessary in the new hypothetical project: «new configuration of the route from curve 13; straightening of the outlet (risk of accidents)”, plus other adjustments.
As regards financing, it is underlined that the city has approved financing amounting to 9.144 million, a third of the total approval works (approximately 27 million according to the July 2022 estimate); the Land Tyrol would contribute the same amount. The Austrian government has stated that it could intervene, but at the moment there would therefore be a shortage of around 9 million. Who should place them, if the Austrian hypothesis were ever valid? Maybe the IOC? Or perhaps Italy, given that the bobsled track is part of the national funding plan for infrastructure? It is obvious that for Italy to invest in a plant to be built in another country would be paradoxical (but the situation of the track in Cortina, whose auctions were deserted, is also complicated). It should also be considered that in addition to the track, the reception and assistance of the athletes and staff must be guaranteed. The figure is therefore destined to rise.
The city of Innsbruck also indicates the stages of a possible implementation, to start on March 1, 2024 and conclude in October 2025.