Pressure is building on Italian authorities to fast-track preparations for the Milano Cortina Winter Olympics as funding shortfalls and unseasonably warm temperatures threaten progress, even as the head of world skiing calls for a radical rethink of how future Games are staged.
With the Olympics set to open in February, International Ski and Snowboard Federation President Johan Eliasch said Italy’s difficulties reflect deeper, systemic challenges confronting winter sport.
Rising costs, mounting climate pressure and the legacy of underused venues, he argued, are intensifying calls for a new hosting model.
Support is growing within international sport for a rotation system in which a limited group of established locations would host the Winter Games on a recurring basis.
Advocates say such an approach would allow long-term planning, rein in spending and provide more reliable conditions for athletes and fans, while avoiding the costly construction of facilities that often fall into disuse after the Olympics.
Eliasch said several Olympic venues were facing technical difficulties not because of shortcomings by local organizers, but because of funding issues at the government level.
Games organizers have said the venues will be ready on time.
“We see here that there are some venues that have technical difficulties. It’s not the organizing committees. It’s simply a lack of funding from the Italian government,” Eliasch told Reuters in an interview.
“It’s really important that every effort is now made to make sure that everything is ready on time.”
Eliasch warned that readiness alone was not enough.
“We know that we will get everything somehow ready on time,” he said. “But the question is what, of course. And that needs to meet a certain quality threshold and experience threshold for the spectators, the fans and, first and foremost, the athletes, to make this a success.”
He warned that funding constraints could push preparations beyond critical tipping points.
“We shouldn’t be penny-wise and pound-foolish,” Eliasch said. “There are certain tipping points in the process beyond which there is no return. From a quality perspective, for what we’re trying to do here, it’s really important that funding does not become an impediment to delivering the best of the best for those two and a half weeks in February.”
Snowmaking has emerged as a key concern as organizers prepare venues across northern Italy, and Eliasch noted that parts of the downhill course in Bormio had no snow.
“We know right now that the snowmaking equipment is working, but we have an additional problem, and that is that the temperatures are very warm,” Eliasch said. “That means we can only produce snow during the night, not during the daytime, because it’s too warm.
“So the theoretical capacity simply can’t be met,” he added.
Italian Undersecretary of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers Alessandro Morelli said he was satisfied with the situation.
“In Livigno, 53 additional snow cannons are in operation, ensuring the production of the snow needed for the smooth running of the competitions ahead of the Olympics,” he told Italian news agency ANSA.
“The situation satisfies us, and we are confident we can achieve an even better result than we had imagined.”
Eliasch contrasted the situation with regular international competitions.
“If this were a World Cup race or a world championship, it would be easy,” he said. “We would know exactly what plan B, plan C and plan D are. We wouldn’t start making snow this late. We would have plans to bring in snow from other areas and truck it in. We would have all sorts of contingency planning.”
Olympic events are far more complex, making financial certainty essential.
“Without clarity and transparency for the organizing committee – which we are trying to support in every possible way, and which is working incredibly hard – but without resources, no one is going to step forward and deliver without knowing they will get paid,” said Eliasch, an International Olympic Committee member.
“It is a very logical step to take,” Eliasch said of a rotation model. “I have advocated for it with my IOC hat on. Without long-term planning, people are not going to invest. And the Games are getting more and more expensive.”
“Huge investments – billions of dollars – are poured into infrastructure,” he added. “Much of it becomes wasted after the Olympic Games have been held.”
“For the Olympic Winter Games, to pull all that together, you need at least five or six years’ notice,” Eliasch said. “I think we’re looking at maybe six to eight venues to start with.”
Climate pressure is accelerating the debate.
“Climate change could become an existential threat,” Eliasch said. “The only logical way to bring costs down to reasonable levels is to have a rotation scheme.”
The stakes extend beyond winter sport.
“We are competing with Formula One, the NFL, the NBA and football – we have to be at the forefront,” he said. “The five rings are magical, and that’s something we must protect at all costs.”
