Olympic Games-2026: at least one candidate for the construction of the Cortina bobsleigh and luge track

At least one construction group has responded to the call for tenders for the construction of the controversial bobsleigh and luge track in Cortina d'Ampezzo for the 2026 Winter Olympics, AFP was told on Saturday (January 20) a source with knowledge of the matter.

The call for tenders launched at the end of December by Simico, the company responsible for delivering Olympic infrastructure for the 2026 Olympics, expired on Thursday.

“At least, a group of construction companies has come forward, Simico will now study this offer in the next ten days and others if it has received others and see if it meets the technical criteria in particular,” explained this source.

According to the Italian press, it is the Italian group Pizzarotti which has submitted a file for delivery of the track in March 2025 at a cost of 81,6 million euros.

In July 2023, a call for tenders for a more expensive and ambitious project remained without a candidate, making the bobsleigh and luge track a very thorny issue for the organizers.

Last October, they announced during the 141st session of the International Olympic Committee in Bombay that, due to a lack of track in Italy, they were going to move these ice sports out of the country.

But the Italian government made an about-face in December, with Deputy Prime Minister and Transport Minister Matteo Salvini relaunching the project for a runway in Cortina.

The issue has taken on a highly symbolic dimension for the ultra-conservative government of Giorgia Meloni which, by favoring the costly and risky construction so close to the deadline (February 6-22, 2026) of a track, is defying the IOC.

The Olympic body is in fact pleading, to avoid the construction of equipment that is expensive to build and even more so to maintain, especially when they hardly correspond to local needs, for the relocation of sliding events abroad.

Christophe Dubi, the executive director of the Games, repeated it again this week on the sidelines of the Winter Youth Olympic Games in Gangwon, South Korea.

"Our position is unequivocal, he explained: from the beginning, we believe that the construction of a track is a complex issue, in terms of cost, reuse and schedule. We are in favor of the use of an already existing track.

Time is running out: the organizers have committed to the IOC to announce by January 31 where the bobsleigh and luge events will take place.

“We should know more around the 29th,” said the source with knowledge of the file.