“The track will cost 85 million euros. The timetable is complex, but we are on time”. Costs and times, Andrea Varnier he has no doubts. In his Milan office at City Life the managing director of Milan-Cortina Foundation answers the questions of ilfattoquotidiano.it on the controversial bob track for Winter Olympics 2026which will have to be built in one third of the time initially foreseen. The letter he sent at the end of March to the CEO of the Innsbruck-Igls plant, in which they questioned information on the Austrian track, has opened numerous questions, first of all that of the existence of a “piano B” to save Italy from a possible fool. Herr Matthew Schipflinger he replied by declaring himself available, even if the arrangement of the Austrian facility will only be completed in 2025. And he declared that the Cortina track will cost “at least 150 million euros“. Varnier denies and relaunches: “In Innsbruck they are missing 23 millions to complete the work, they ask us for it. They have to do a restructuring for a total of 50 million, our runway will cost 85. There is not this grande difference“. The ad in fact is sure (for the moment) that the programs they will not be changed.
It was a surprise to read the letters that you wrote to your counterpart at Olympia World in Innsbruck at the end of March, less than three years before the start of the Games. What goal did they have?
We are a private law foundation and we deal with the organization of the Games, not with the works, the realization of which is the responsibility of a public company, Infrastrutture Milano-Cortina 2026 (Simian, ndr). When I took hold of the venues dossiers I received Simico’s data, according to which the Austrian track was not ready. Then an interview was published on the Dolomites (South Tyrolean German-speaking newspaper, ndr) which instead said: “We are ready to welcome you”….
It was Schipflinger who said it.
Out of a sense of responsibility, I decided to write asking: “Where are you now? I understand you’re not ready.” Schipflinger also admitted in the interview to ilfattoquotidiano.it that they need 50 million euros for the works.
Of which 27 are already financed by the Austrians.
But 23 more are missing for completion and they ask us for them. It seems unlikely to me that Simico will give them to a private Austrian entity. My letter was only informative, as it appears to me that the other leads are not available.
Does it also refer to La Plagne in France, Cesana Torinese in Italy, Konigsee in Germany?
Exactly. There is a study complete with photos, the managing director of Infrastrutture Milano-Cortina Luigivalerio Sant’Andrea spoke about it at the services conference in Cortina.
Wasn’t there a bit of an approximation? Why were the checks only done in 2022?
The important thing is that the checks are carried out. At the end of December 2022, I found a well-done document. In fact when I read the article of the Dolomites, I wrote to Schipflinger for safety and information on the runway. It’s not strange, I wanted to check.
But you didn’t give up on Innsbruck, you wrote “keep us informed”. Didn’t you close that door?
There is no door either open or closed. I was anxious to explain why we wrote to Innsbruck and dispute the figure on the cost of the Cortina runway fired by Schipflinger (150 million euros, ndr).
So can it be said that you have a “plan B” if Cortina fails?
We have a plan B for everything. There is a global event and we must be ready for any eventuality, this is our job. Emergencies can happen and we have the overall picture of what’s around.
However, the president of the IOC, Thomas Bach, was already talking about Innsbruck as an alternative in 2020 when he wrote to the governor of Veneto Luca Zaia.
The position of the IOC is clear. They say: “We don’t force a country, a region, to build a runway. If there are alternatives, we don’t have any problems.” Sant’Andrea has verified them, but the times for the works in Innsbruck arrive at the end of November 2025, even more at risk than those in Cortina.
Is the November 2024 deadline to finish the track, whether in Cortina or Innsbruck, mandatory for the Federation?
These are negotiations that we make based on the trend of the realizations.
However, it cannot ignore the issue of costs. From Innsbruck they say that the Cortina track will cost at least 150 million euros, Bach had spoken of 100-120 million. In reality, it went from the initial 41 million to 62 million euros, then a new leap to 85 million, but figures exceeding 120 million are circulating.
I rely on what Simico says, according to which the track will cost 85 million euros. Now they will compete and I think the values will be those. The overall plan of Simico’s works was approved on Thursday in the control room, now a Dpcm will be made to proceed. But I repeat, we are interested in the conduct of the Olympics and competitions.
Isn’t it cheaper to go to Innsbruck, where the current track already hosts World Cup races, is open 140 days a year with an average of 170 departures a day?
But they too have to do some renovations. Theirs cost 50 million euros, our track will cost 85 million. There isn’t that big of a difference. In Igls/Innsbruck we would have to pay the set-up costs, as well as the side costs. For example, we should provide accommodation and food for a few hundred athletes and technicians, provide for the press center and medical services. I imagine that it would go beyond 10 million euros.
However, the IOC warned not to build cathedrals in the desert and the impression is that there has been a particular insistence from the Veneto for the Cortina bobsledding.
No, I think not. Ours is a widespread model of using existing structures: the Biathlon stadium in Anterselva, the trampolines in the Val di Fiemme, while we do curling and bobsled in the Cortina facilities.
That of the bobsled does not exist, it will be all new, like that of Turin 2006: it cost 106 million euros and was closed after a few years.
Let’s not forget that in Cortina there is a great tradition, a Bob Club. The initial goal was to fix the old track “Eugenio Monti”, then we saw that it was an abandoned ruin. However, the Games include bobsleigh, skeleton and luge competitions. The track is part of the Olympic project.
So according to her won’t the Cortina plant end up like Cesana?
The Cesana track was not initially even supposed to be born there. It was in a place where there is no tradition of these sports and the tourist flow is of a completely different level than in Cortina, whose attraction for competitions and training is completely different. So Cortina may have the chance to have a use like that of La Plagne. The French system works because there is more tourism than Cesana, which Cortina can also guarantee.
At 150 km, however, there is always Innsbruck, which has a track with tradition and a catchment area.
However, the Cortina track will be the most innovative in Europe: I want to see where the athletes will go to train. They will have at their disposal a modern, performing track, made with all the trappings. It is clear that then there will be a competition to host the races, even with Innsbruck. But Cortina is Cortina, with all due respect. Then there is also another matter, which concerns the athletes and other actors involved in the Olympics, including broadcasters. Cortina’s experience, if it were limited to women’s curling and alpine skiing, would become a limited Olympic experience.
The speed skating rink will also be new.
Because it cost too much to adapt that of Baselga di Pinè with the coverage required for the Olympics. We made a responsible choice by switching to the Fiera di Milano, a 400-meter indoor track that will be temporary. Fiera will make the investment to set up the pavilion, which will then be opened to host other sporting events. The cost of the rent will be covered by marketing rights, while the cost of setting up the ice rink will be around one and a half million euros.
Returning to Cortina, why were 4 projects changed in three years?
We do not deal with this, we have no visibility of the technical aspects. We are interested in the project that will be implemented. Our task is not to build the track, but to use it for the Olympics.
Are you convinced that the Cortina track will be able to be completed within the time required?
It is one of the most important plants that are built by Simico. He has very “right” times: we, as well as the international federation, will monitor the works and make sure that everything is ready. We think so, because the financing of the work has been approved and the demolition has started, which is almost complete. If the works start this summer, the timetable is perfectly respected.
However, looking at the 2019 candidacy plan, the tender was scheduled for 2020. Instead, it will take place on June 5, 2023 and the construction sites will not start until October. There are 14 months left to build the bobsleigh track.
When the initial plan was made I was on the other side of the world. I’m talking about the schedule we have now. Could the runway be ready in 2022? Maybe yes, but in between there was a pandemic, the world has changed. The costs in 2019 were also different. The current timetable, shared with the international federation and with the IOC, foresees the start of the tender at the end of spring 2023.
But with the award, we will arrive precisely in September.
We are convinced that at this moment the schedule is respected.
But summer is important to work on the track. Out of two summers, are we playing for one?
I repeat, it is a complex timetable, but we are on time. You must ask Simico for technical information.
No fear of a flop?
We also monitor works that may appear simple. We verify that the roadmaps are in rhythm and we are constantly in tension. We will be until the day the Games close. Our job is to find solutions to all problems. The bobsleigh track doesn’t bother me any more than other works.