CORTINA D’AMPEZZO, Italy, Jan 26 : The Olympic torch relay reached the co-host Cortina d’Ampezzo on Monday, heading into the Dolomite town on the 70th anniversary of the opening of its 1956 Winter Games.
Cortina will be in the global spotlight next month when it and Milan, the Italian financial capital, provide the main bases for the Winter Olympics which run from February 6-22.
Italian Infrastructure Minister Matteo Salvini was expected to be in the centre of Cortina on Monday evening to welcome the torch relay on the 50th leg of a journey around Italy designed to increase enthusiasm for the Games.
The relay earlier on Monday passed through Vajont, an area marked by a devastating tragedy in 1963 when a mountain landslide caused flooding that killed an estimated 1,900 people.
Cortina will stage the Olympic women’s Alpine skiing races, bobsleigh, luge and skeleton at a new sliding centre, as well as curling.
Salvini, the leader of the League coalition party, was among those who pushed for the rebuilding of the Eugenio Monti sliding centre at a cost of around 118 million euros ($140 million), overcoming opponents who complained about the environmental impact and questioned whether it would get much use after the Games.
Contractors have also been racing to complete a new cable car in Cortina that will facilitate access to the ski slopes for spectators.
The town has a resident population of only around 5,000 people but has been a popular destination for well-heeled skiers for generations.
Films including the 1960s comedy “The Pink Panther” have been filmed in the town.
($1 = 0.8432 euros)
(Writing by Keith Weir, editing by Ed Osmond)
