Renovation of the historic track "Eugenio Monti", the Bob Club Cortina sheds light: "This is how things are"

Bobsleigh: All news

St. Moritz Corviglia: All information

The restoration project of the facility has been at the center of discussions for years now: the reference Cortinese company explains what is being done, trying to create a real sports center.

Monday 9 August 2021 12 minutes reading time

A long letter from the management of the Bob Club Cortina to clarify the situation linked to a legendary track and symbol of the Italian bob, the one dedicated to Eugenio Monti in the Queen of the Dolomites. It has been discussed for years and, only four and a half years before the Milan-Cortina 2026 Olympic Games, the case of its restoration is still evolving; the reference reality in the area explained what is happening. Here is the full document. "The Bob Club Cortina, tired of passively witnessing the smear and disinformation campaign that certain bodies or associations have implemented against the restructuring of the" Eugenio Monti "track, wants to provide some information so that citizens and enthusiasts can understand what the plant restoration project. The proposals so far evaluated and considered applicable, consist in the profound restructuring of the current structure but following the original layout as much as possible; some changes will be necessary to adapt the track to current regulations and regulations and, last but not least, to adapt it to the sled, the skeleton and the parabob. The track area will not be "deforested" as some would have us believe, also because the shade of the trees helps to maintain the ice. Rather it will be necessary to cut some plants for safety reasons or to carry out some modifications or ancillary works. The tennis court area will not be eliminated, on the contrary it will be redeveloped with larger and more modern fields, and better integration with the climbing wall. The planned playground will not be a sort of "Gardaland of the Dolomites", but the integration of activities to the existing one with better usability, attractiveness and sustainability. With regard to construction costs, it should be noted that the IOC and Coni have never financed the construction of the Olympic structures, which is the responsibility of the local authorities while in the context of the economic sustainability of the post-Olympic event facility as requested by the IOC , a fund has been planned and allocated for the management of the plant. In the case of the Eugenio Monti di Cortina track, it amounts to eight million euros, aimed at smoothing out the annual deficit for about fifteen / twenty years; it is not true that the running costs of a bobsleigh track must exceed one million euros like that of Cesana, in fact the studies conducted up to now and the experience of other tracks settle the deficit of around four hundred thousand euros. year for about four months of opening. With about twenty years of guaranteed management, it is assumed that there are the foundations to reach the almost complete sustainability of the plant. It should also be considered that being able to go down also with the sled, the skeleton and the monobob, opens the possibility of involving the young group of children, like what happens in other slopes, where whole school groups are brought to try these sports and, always for future sustainability, a myriad of other activities including the rental of the track to foreign teams, international competitions (including the World Championships that we had already obtained for 2011) or championships of other Nations that do not have tracks by Bob (for example England). We would like to point out that the Bob Club Cortina has great difficulty in booking descents on the various slopes due to the high demand, and that these must be booked about eight months in advance otherwise there is no availability. Another chapter concerns the media visibility and the return of image, which is studied and quantified by specialized companies: at the time of closure in 2007, the television exhibition alone during the World Cup was valued almost four hundred thousand euros by the specialized company that dealt of these calculations on behalf of the sponsors of the event; these are certain data that give an idea of the value of these sporting events. To this must be added all the induced activities in terms of jobs, hotel attendance (not only during the competitions but also of the teams that will come to train) and everything that an international level event entails. We also remind you that only a few prestigious winter resorts can boast of having a bobsleigh track (St. Moritz, Koenigssee, Lake Placid) and that these are also equipped to let tourists off (taxi bob or skeleton in St. Moritz), providing a exclusive attraction that no other neighboring town can offer; this, together with the playground and the integration with the existing sports facilities (Tennis and Rock Gym), will offer a unique “sports center”, increasing the tourist offer of Cortina. Some examples of tourist activities related to this type of system are: the aforementioned taxi bob which can also be practiced in the summer version, which was invented in Cortina in the 90s, descents with inflatable vehicles, descents with traditional sleds or other equipment at equal to what happens in other places. In addition, for some years now, on an idea started many years ago in Cortina, the monobob has been developed and has taken hold in an important way (in the meantime it has become a women's Olympic discipline at the next Beijing Olympics), which in addition to facilitating the course pilots, it can be practiced by individuals who want to try this discipline at a non-professional level, with real challenges between associations, companies or other realities even from other tracks in the world. We recall that something similar happens today with monobob and skeleton in St. Moritz, where real private clubs compete in very fun and hard-fought races with an important economic return for the track. The Bob Club Cortina, which in recent years has stoically continued its training and support activity for athletes by supporting high travel costs, is thrilled to be able to have a track at home again where it can work again to bring the Italian bobsled back to the levels that historically they belong to us; obviously it will take a few years to fill that void left by over ten years of closure, and bring the number and quality of athletes back to past levels. In this regard, it is true that as announced by the project's detractors, there are currently few athletes in Italy, but if we were to base the construction of the facilities on the number of practitioners we would only have football fields. Furthermore, the intentions of the Coni is the creation of a federal center for these activities in Cortina, which integrated with the already existing pushing piston will lead the National athletes to train right in our facilities, in addition to all the collateral activities such as meetings, training courses. training for technicians, judges and qualified personnel. A last but important note: from 2026 the parabob should become part of the Olympic disciplines, a sector to which in recent years the Bob Club Cortina, a reference association for this specialty in collaboration with the Italian Paralympic Winter Sports Federation, has dedicated itself eagerly, giving the possibility to athletes (including local ones) with disabilities, to emerge internationally and to practice an exciting discipline, very technical and absolutely compatible with the physical condition of parathletes ".

270

Social media engagement