The IOC reiterated that the bobsled track for the Milan-Cortina Games "has to be ready by March 2025" and that there "will be no compromise." Italy is going ahead with a controversial, $90M plan to rebuild the historic track in Cortina for the 2026 Games, "despite fierce opposition from the IOC." Work finally started on the century-old track this week, "less than a year before IOC-mandated test events." No sliding track has been built recently "in such a short timeframe" and organizers are "continuing negotiations for an eventual Plan B in a neighboring country." The track has to be ready by March 2025 "in order to guarantee the safety of the athletes" (AP, 2/23).
Meanwhile, the Russian Olympic Committee "has lost an appeal against its suspension" by the IOC. The Court of Arbitration for Sport said today that it had "dismissed: the ROC’s appeal against the suspension imposed in October. The IOC "objected to the ROC incorporating four sports bodies representing regions of eastern Ukraine," which it calls "a breach of the Olympic Charter" (AP, 2/23).
