By DANIELLA MATAR and COLLEEN BARRY, Associated Press
MILAN (AP) — With 100 days to go until the start of the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics, preparations are going right down to the wire.
The ice hockey arena that is set to welcome back NHL players to the Olympics is still not ready and won’t be tested until less than a month before the first puck is dropped at the 2026 Games.
“There are some things that we are paying more attention to, monitoring them and then there are others that are absolutely completely ready,” Milan-Cortina organizing committee president Giovanni Malagò told journalists outside an event to celebrate the 100-day countdown on Wednesday.
“Being completely honest I would say that these 100 days are necessary, we need them but I don’t think that’s any different than any other big event, you always see people working even hours before the start to ensure it meets expectations.”
Readiness of the venues is not a new concern for the local organizing committee, which rebuilt the century-old sliding track in Cortina after tangling with the International Olympic Committee at length over the decision.
The controversial track is up and running, with the IOC even saying recently that the venue has “surpassed expectations.” It secured preliminary certification in March and test events are taking place through November.
“The sliding center was a very complicated item in that period. It is clear that we respected our promises. It was not so easy to obtain the faith from the international community — my colleagues in the IOC, the international federations,” Malagò said.
“They did a fantastic job and now we want to meet the same expectations with Santagiulia.”
However, a test event at the Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena — the new, 16,000-seat venue that is being built on the outskirts of Milan — had to be moved, and new ones won’t be until Jan. 9-11.
The first Olympics match at the main hockey arena is the women’s preliminary round competition on Feb. 5, just one day before the opening ceremony.
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“We are convinced that we will have a beautiful facility, and we will be ready to do the test event the first week of January, which will be very important because it has never been used,” Milan-Cortina CEO Andrea Varnier said.
“We need to test the ice, which is temporary not permanent, and also the function of the entire facility, which will be heavily visited.”
There are fewer concerns over other sites as the Milan-Cortina Games will be using mainly existing venues, with this the first Olympics to fully embrace cost-cutting reforms installed by former IOC President Thomas Bach.
That means that it will also be the most spread-out Winter Games in history.
But “the credibility of the venues,” Malagò said, compensates for the distance.
“What is fundamental is that the athletes want to compete in what is the temple of their own discipline. All these events have a recognized, first-class ranked venue … for me it was a good choice and I think for the athletes too,” he said.
Ticket sales
The 100-day mark launched the final phase of ticket sales.
Varnier said they have exceeded their own forecasts, selling more than 850,000 tickets to date. “Many sessions are sold out,’’ he said. In all, Milan-Cortina organizers are selling 1.4 million tickets for both the Feb. 6-22 Olympic Games and for the Paralympics running from March 6-15.
Podium party
Organizers also unveiled the two podiums for the Winter Olympics and Paralympics, the last of the design objects created for the Milan-Cortina Games after the medals, torches and posters.
The low-rise podiums are in a deep blue, with graphic elements meant to recall snow and ice. During the presentation, the two mascots, Tina and Milo, symbolically mounted the podiums.
A pair of stoat — or weasel — siblings, all-white Tina represents the Olympic Winter Games, while Milo, whose coat is brown, is the mascot for the Paralympic Winter Games.
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