The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has insisted that the organizers of the Milano-Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy should seek a foreign venue for bobsleigh, luge, and skeleton events. This decision came during the IOC Session in October after plans to build a new track in Cortina d'Ampezzo, at the same site as the 1956 Games, fell through.

However, the Italian government is exploring alternatives, and one option is to revive the Cesana Torinese bobsleigh track, used in the 2006 Winter Olympics. The issue with the track is that it has been inactive for over a decade, is not in proper condition, and requires extensive renovation, including the reconstruction of the refrigeration system.

The Government of Italy is reluctant to bear the political cost of being responsible for an event taking place outside the host country for the first time in the 102-year history of the Winter Olympics, something that has happened a few times in the Summer Games (most recently in Hong Kong, which has a separate Olympic Committee from China, for equestrian events in Beijing 2008).

The organizing committee of Milano-Cortina 2026 mentioned the Cesana project during its report at the IOC Executive Board meeting in Paris on Thursday, November 30. "The government will make a decision on December 5 regarding Cesana," said Christophe Dubi, Executive Director of the Olympic Games at the IOC, in a press conference. "This is a project that the government has reopened. As far as the IOC is concerned, we insisted, even during the last Executive Board and the session in Mumbai, that only existing and functioning venues should be considered at this point in time."

Despite the Italian government's willingness to reconstruct the necessary track and respecting their decision, Mr. Dubi stated, "We respect the decision of the various levels of government to look into Cesana; nevertheless, we have also worked with the Organising Committee so that they are in a position, should this project not be adopted — and we feel that it will certainly be the case — to look outside of Italy. So, they have contacted a number of National Olympic Committees, and here as well we have been clear that it has to be an existing and functioning track. Obviously, these NOCs have great facilities to offer."

The options being considered in case the Italian government's proposal does not materialize include centers in neighboring countries such as Switzerland and Austria, specifically Innsbruck (Austria) and Saint Moritz (Switzerland).