What comes from the conference organized by Dolomiti Show at Longarone Fiere to take stock of how the Belluno area is preparing for the 2026 Olympics and Paralympics is a real cry of alarm. , Roberto Padrin, who transformed his greeting to the authorities gathered to present the candidacy of Veneto as European capital of sport 2024, into an appeal to act quickly: indeed, one might say, an appeal to do something.
Padrin does not send them to say
«There are enormous concerns about how we are working for this great event», Padrin began, «we can’t see anything on the territory, there are no signs that remind us that the Olympic Games will be in three and a half years. And the managing director of the Milano Cortina Foundation, which has to organize the Olympics, has not yet been appointed: everything is at a standstill ». Even Dino Ponchio, president of the Veneto Coni, did not fail to underline that «Milan – Cortina must immerse itself more in the true fabric of the Region. There is a lot of work to do and we as Coni are ready to lend a hand, with our experience, with our volunteers ». In the meantime, local authorities and the world of sports are dealing with the energy crisis and with the stratospheric bills, another topic dealt with during the conference. “We need help”, added Ponchio, “sports clubs are like other sectors of the economy, they have the right to be helped because otherwise they won’t make it: many facilities are already closing down and I’m not just talking about swimming pools or ice rinks but also small soccer fields ». But for Padrin, the crisis cannot be resolved if we do not go to the root of the problem, if we do not fight the energy speculators: “You cannot go on just by dint of economic aid, which in the end we all pay”.
Sport doesn’t stop
In all this, and waiting for what will happen with the Olympics, the sporting events do not stop, indeed next year there will be important events such as the Canoe World Championships in Auronzo and many others, small and large. If the Milano – Cortina Foundation is at a standstill, the Cortina Foundation is not, in Longarone fiere with the president Stefano Longo. «We are organizing the three Alpine Ski World Cup races in January, two Snowboard World Cup races, the Paralympic trials, ski mountaineering in Cortina, where up to now no competitions for this sport have ever been organized. This is the ordinary part of our business. Then there is the extraordinary part, that of the Olympics and Paralympics. We are hammering at all the colleagues of the Milano Cortina Foundation, we also recently met Commissioner Sant’Andrea, we made our headquarters available for all the associations in Cortina. We are ready? We are not very ready if I think of the many things that need to be done, for example, to welcome Paralympic athletes. There are many problems, we are mapping hotel rooms to find out how many are ready to welcome disabled athletes who will participate in the spring 2023 competitions. I apologize for any mistakes that may occur. But if we don’t start doing things now, we will never be ready. ‘ Longo asks the institutions for help, “which must make themselves heard more, who must be close to us”.
Fears and hopes
Black clouds on the horizon, therefore, because there are only three years and a few months left until the time when the eyes of the world will be on Cortina, Belluno and Veneto. This is the main sensation that emerged from the meeting of the Dolomiti Show: the sports world looks astonished at the Italian inability to plan and carry out the events on schedule. “Then in the end we will get there,” said several interlocutors, “and everything will go smoothly too.” But for now it’s just hope.