The town of Cortina d'Ampezzo, one of Italy's most famous ski resorts, is gearing up to co-host the 2026 Winter Olympics, marking a return of the Games to one of its traditional European bases for the first time in two decades. - REUTERS
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00:00High up in the Dolomites, in the town of Cortina D'Ampezzo, the heat is on.
00:05The famous Italian ski resort is preparing to co-host the 2026 Winter Olympic Games,
00:11but there are concerns it won't all be ready in time.
00:15The town is up against a March deadline to complete a sliding centre
00:19for athletes booked in to test it for the first time.
00:22But finishing the centre, which will stage Olympic bob, skeleton and luge competitions,
00:27is giving local organisers a headache,
00:29especially because climate change has meant natural snow is in short supply.
00:34But despite the risk of losing the sliding events at the US's Lake Placid,
00:38which has been designated as a long-distance back-up,
00:40Mayor Gianluca Lorenzi is staying positive.
00:44There are back-ups for everything, but it's not worth taking them out.
00:48As of today, the plan B for the bob races does not exist
00:51because it has been made clear the sliding centre is being built here.
00:55Though the International Olympic Committee had suggested using existing venues
00:59in neighbouring countries, the Veneto region and the national government
01:02ultimately opted for a full rebuilding of Cortina's Eugenio Monti track.
01:07Named after an Italian bobsleigh racer who won two silver medals
01:11at the last Winter Olympics held there in 1956,
01:14the revamped site has an estimated cost of $123 million.
01:19But critics argue it risks being a white elephant.
01:22Here's activist Marina Minardi.
01:27We won't need the sliding centre because bobsleigh is a sport that no longer has any athletes
01:32and it will be difficult, I would say impossible, to relaunch
01:35because it doesn't even have media exposure and it is difficult to find sponsors.
01:42There are about 20 or so bobsleigh athletes and another 30 or so between luge and skeleton,
01:47so it's a sport that will have no future and we will be saddled with it.
01:53The return of the Games to Europe comes when climate change and rising temperatures
01:57are posing an existential threat to many of the region's traditional skiing centres.
02:02Some 90 per cent of Italy's ski slopes rely on artificial snow,
02:07compared with 70 per cent in Austria and 39 per cent in France,
02:11according to environmental lobby Legambiente.
02:14And Cortina is no exception with its snow guns.
02:17These methods are not sustainable in the long term.
02:21Preliminary research from the IOC has warned that only 10 nations
02:25will be able to host the Winter Games by 2040 due to climate change.