The completion of the Arena, which will be used for many hockey games at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy, will be “very narrow”, the organizers said the International Olympic Committee (IOC) this week at the 144th session of the organization in Greece.
Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena in Milan, which could be able to host 16,000 fans, will host many men’s hockey games and semi -final and last games in women’s hockey. There will also be a home of pair -hook during the Paralympics.
But if things go to the schedule, the organizers will not be able to enter the facility to start building temporary ice that players will use until October, four months before the games started.
Arena develops a private company. After the games, the ice will be removed and other sports will host.
“We have followed the processes from the beginning,” said Andrea Varnier, CEO Milan Cortina 2026, after his presentation MOO -AU Thursday.
Varnier blamed Pandemi for the “slow start” that left private owners, wondering if the Arena would be a good investment without knowing what could happen in the world.
“We were worried at one point,” Varnier said. “He finally started the job and go very, very quickly.”
The photos shown by the Organizing Committee during their presentation showed the skeleton of the structure.
An ice that will be tested less than 2 months before the games
The schedule would see that a temporary ice was completed in December, less than two months before the game. Then the organizers will hold test events to evaluate its quality.
Asked about the security plan for the organizer if Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena is not ready in time, Varnier said he was gone.
“We do not see the need for a spare plan, because as we said, the job goes perfectly on the network with our time,” Varnier said. So, we do not believe, together with the International Federation, that we need Plan B. “
After the Olympics and the Paralympics, the ice will be removed and the object can be used for other sports, such as tennis, which are more popular in the local area.
NHL players will return to the Olympics for the first time since 2014. The first tickets were on sale in February for two days.
Of the more than 600,000 tickets sold, hockey was one of the most popular draws, along with biathlon, sliding figures and skiing skiing.
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“Obviously, it is for us, for Italy, for the Games for the Olympic Movement, but especially for Milan Cortina 2026,” Giovanni Malagò, president of the Organizing Committee, told reporters.
Asked about the quality of temporary ice that the players will use, Varnier said there are great examples of tournament using temporary LEDs.
“We have knowledge, technology and experience to make a fantastic temporary ice board for NHL players have fantastic [tournament]”He said.
“We work with international federations. That was never a care. Of course, it’s much more challenging skating. It will be temporary.”
Sliding central test set
Milan Ice Park will host the speed skating stadium and RHO Ice Hockey Arena, who will play the host of male and female hockey games that will not be in the new Santagiulia Ice Hockey.
Varnier said IOC that the permanent work on the ice park had been completed. After the games, the place will be available as a multipurpose space for the community. As with Santagiulia, the ice is temporary.
“At the same time, we will be able to show that it is possible to organize a complex event such as skating competition in a temporary and sustainable place,” Varnier said.
Next week, 60 athletes are planned to test a sliding center built in Cortini, a place that was a meta sabotage last month. The safety plan, if the sliding center was not completed, would see that the sliding events move all the way to the Placid Lake, NY
The village of the athlete in Milan was almost completed, while the first prefabricated houses began to arrive in Cortin D’A ampezzo two weeks ago, the organizers said.
