2026 Olympic organizers forced to look outside Italy for ice sliding venue after project funds cut

MUMBAI, India (AP) — A big-ticket project for the 2026 Milan-Cortina Olympics has been dropped because the Italian government no longer wants to help fund it. Organizing committee officials say bobsled, luge and skeleton events now need to be held outside Italy. That’s likely to be either at the sliding track in Austria or Switzerland. The historic Eugenio Monti track at Cortina d’Ampezzo was built 100 years ago, used for the 1956 Winter Games, and shut down 15 years ago. It was planned to be rebuilt but expected costs spiraled from the original $53 million estimate.