Expandgaudium magnum, nuntio vobis: habemus Track!!!
finally, the Sliding Sports have a new home in Italy; the Cortina Track is ready!!!
the inaugural slides are scheduled for next Tuesday, March 25th
https://www.oasport.it/2025/03/litalia-ha-una-pista-di-bob-e-slittino-lavori-finiti-a-cortina-gli-azzurri-saranno-i-primi-a-provarla/ (sorry, it's in Italian only)
Do you think that Salvini will be at the opening
ExpandAt this point it would be hard to see them included, given there’s been no real progress in Russia being reintroduced in sports (and also no meaningful progress towards an end of the war).
I think that team sport will be unavailable to Russia, not only hockey but also curling, bobsleigh, relay in biathlon, short track, speed skating etc.
Expandbefore the Olympics, all the teams will not have a proper warm up period
it's like putting on an all-star team...individuals are called to find the way to play together in the most effective way through the early games of the tournament
technically, they're all on the same boat
In basketball, after Banchero's refusal, they also can`t find anyone else when other countries naturalize players from the USA. The basketball and hockey federations are functioning terribly.
ExpandI made the list of current NHL players who could be declared eligible to play for Italy in 2026 1 or 2 pages back in this thread
and there are a lot more playing in the AHL and in the best European leagues
if NHL and IOC want, it's never too late
even if they want the players to have the italian passport, many of them already have it...meanwhile for some others, it would only take a few days to our President of the Republic to give it to them for special sport reasons
the true obstacle is such an idiot of a fisg president, who would like to oppose even a direct request by nhl, iihf and ioc
You know how slowly everything works in Italy, for example Antropova had to wait many months for a passport in 2023... Btw., those oriundi who currently play for us are weak - the best is probably Larkin but he is no star either. It would be useful to call up better players but there is very little time.
ExpandOK, this is a déjà-vu and a joke...
earlier Today, our Ice Sports Federation's president, Andrea Gios, was interviewed by Discovery Media journalists after attending the Figure Skating Nationals
he said a lot of things about all the disciplines administrated by his federations and when Ice Hockey came to the attention, he said he's not interested in calling up any player from North America with Italian heritage, especially those who have never played in any of our teams
he also said that he knows that the NHL and the IOC want the team to be the best possible and make the Olympic tournament the most competitive as possible, so, if they will still push the cause of Italy playing with the NHLers, he won't accept any command and will try to find some kind of compromise, as he's only interested in keeping in the team the Italian born guys (even if they just can't play hockey at that level and will make Italy a joke of a team, because he's only interested in saving his ass and Chair, not losing votes from the hockey representatives at the next federal elections)
the words in Italics are mine, of course he didn't say that, even if I'm sure that this is what he actually thinks
to say that I'm disgusted by that little idiot, it's an enormous euphemism
And what kind of hockey players with Italian roots playing in the NHL do you mean? Isn't there already too little time for that? In addition the team has to get along and it looks like these people would meet for the first time just before the 2026 Olympics... In both cases there will be a big defeat.
Expandboh?
I don't have a consolidated idea yet...
golds? I hope many, but I fear we won't get to 5
medals? hopefully, more than in 2022
the "athlete of the Games"? Davide Ghiotto (speedskating) and Pietro Sighel (short track speedskating)
hopefully, also Sofia Goggia (alpine skiing), Arianna Fontana (short track & speedskating) and Stefania Constantini (curling)...but it's just hope, not a prediction
breakthrough? Tommaso Giacomel (men's biathlon)
newcomers? I think the Big Air guys (Tabanelli siblings in freestyle, Matteoli in snowboard), hopefully Erik Canovi in SkiMo (but, as I wrote earlier, I fear it's too early for him, as he's still a junior)
with a lot of optimism, Elia Barp (cross-country) and Daniele Di Stefano (speedskating, mass start)
surprising medals? I don't think there's any chance for
to win a truly surprising medal, all those who have just the smallest chance to make the podium, it wouldn't be a true upset if they get it
Vittozzi?
Edited by copravolleyExpandBut if Norwegians miss some shootss, he may take his chance.
He's not a great shooter either. Vittozzi has a better chance with women.
Expand@copravolley do you think Tomasso Giacomel may be a star of 2026 olympics?
I don`t think. The advantage od Norway it`s too big. Giacomel would have to be a talent on the scale of Martin Fourcade to break the Norwegian dominance.
ExpandMy English must have definitely improved
. I meant that any result worse than Torino2006 would be a bad result
The worst editions in XXI century for us were Vancouver: 5 medals (only 1 gold for Razzoli's on the penultimate day) and Sochi: 8 medals (but no gold). Turin was already a prelude to this bad period, although the number of gold medals was ok. Overall we won fewer medals at home than in 2002 and this was probably the only case in the 21st century when the host country won fewer medals at home than 4 years earlier, either in summer or winter. In general the years 2008-2016 were very bad in our sport, both in summer and winter. Only 2018 in Korea was a slight rebuild + 2 fantastic summer editions in Tokyo and Paris. in Beijing 2022 we won a lot of medals - 17 but only 2 gold (If it weren't for Gogga's injury, I think it would have been 4 gold).
Edited by copravolleyExpandDutch Winter Olympics is all about speedskating and shorttrack.
In shorttrack we have a problem since Suzanne Schulting (3 times Olympic Champion) broke her ankle this year. After since it looks like she concentrates on speedskating on the long track. But in that sport she is not really that good. For shorttrack we have medal chances for Xandra Velzeboer on the 500 meters and Jens van 't Wout on the men's distances, although Danjinou from Canada is in a league of his own.
In speedskating we have several medal chances, but I'm expecting not that much gold, considering Jordan Stolz (500/1000/1500) and Davide Ghiotto (5000/10000) winning the gold medals on the classic distances almost for sure. There will be some silver and bronze on the men's side however (Patrick Roest (5000), Kjeld Nuis (1500), Tim Prins (1000) and maybe Jenning de Boo (500)).
On the women's side there is Miho Takagi (1000/1500) and Ragne Wiklund (3000/5000) and the Canadian women. But also chances for Dutch gold with Jutta Leerdam (1000), Joy Beune (1500/3000), Marijke Groenewoud (mass/3000) and Merel Conijn (5000). Unless Leerdam will continue travelling with Jake Paul and focus on her boyfriend's stupid influence-career more than on her own career.
2 medals in short track, 10 medals in speedskating, but not many golden!
There are currently no grounds to consider Ghiotto as a favourite for the 5000. He has never won any important 5000 event while dominating the 10 km at the same time. Roest always won the same pattern, with Ghiotto losing all his advantage in the last 2 laps. We will see what the Italian's form will be like now and how tactically he wants to play it. I would also not forget about Eitrem from Norway, who is much younger from these two and has a lot of room for development.
Edited by copravolleyExpandYeah, but what I mean is: the sliding sports are by far the best sports for a home nation to vastly improve their medal chances, so make sure that track is done before anything else, because that will actually improve the medal chances..
In the worst case scenario for us, the conditions will be equal for everyone - something like in Beijing 2022. If the competition were held in Igls, Austria would have a huge advantage.
ExpandSo yeah, yet another big chance thrown away
When will countries learn? Once you get the Winter Olympics awarded, the very first step should be finishing the sliding track (if it isn't there already)
The track in Cortina has a future but it needs to be used well: apply for a place in the World Cup calendar, to organize World Championships, etc. Encourage other countries to train there. Maybe open the track to tourists for recreational ride during some time: some tracks in Germany do this or La Plagne in France. Cortina has a good location: it`s a well-known resort with a large accommodation and restaurant base. Cesana was a much worse place - the venue for the 2006 Olympic Games in luge and bob sports. There was no infrastructure around there + the area had no tradition in these sports.
Expandthey just wasted years and built up a lot of bad press, haters and controversy (even with the IOC) before doing what should have been done from the beginning
now the construction work is on, the track in Cortina will be ready even before the more optimist would think: March 2025 the mandatory safety verification, Autumn 2025 an International Training Week and a test race (basically, the same timing of Beijing 2022 and their track) and according to Armin Zoeggeler, it will be a wonderful, demanding track, where a few training runs before the official opening for the International audience would have been very, very useful...and instead all this kind of advantage the Italian sliding sports teams could have had, are gone thanks to the usual Italian way of (recent) life, wasting time behind local useless, senseless protestors and political games that never go to advantage of anybody
Some people explained it as Covid, but the work should start in 2021 at the latest. Paradoxically, the Meloni-Salvini government finally led to the construction of this track, and the previous technical government - Draghi did nothing in this direction. Although Draghi very often took pictures with athletes with medals. Salvini did at least 1 good thing in his political life If it wasn't for his last-minute about-face, the competition would probably be in Switzerland or Austria. I didn't believe in options with Cesana + Cortina is a better place for this track to continue operating in the future (better location + tradition in luge and bobsleigh sports).
The question is, couldn't this have been done 2-3 years ago, without all this drama and fuss?
The rivals are weak but for example the Slovenian team had a strong squad: Prevc and Klinec.
Edited by copravolley
ExpandProbably my second favorite of the WOG broadcast logos behind Pyeongchang 2018.
Vancouver 2010 also was very good, especially music.
The most beautiful intro ever:
Expandthis schedule has been compile all but by Italian people
it looks the German and Scandinavian TV networks did it
our prime time is after 9 p.m. and except for some hockey matches, there's nothing set at that time
nothing of our most popular disciplines has been scheduled in favourable times for the Italian audience
the men's hockey final at 1 p.m.? hope that all the tickets are sold abroad, because that's the ugliest time of the day for any sport event in Milan
2 short track sessions early in the morning mid-week?
no alpine skiing/snowboard at night?
curling evening session at 7 p.m. (GMG of the mixed event at 6 p.m.)??? c'mon, man!
speedskating in the middle of the afternoon on working days? good luck! (hopefully the ice rink will still be filled by Dutch fans)
and as always, a lot of empty slots and quite a few big events running at the same time
In Turin it was probably similar. The races with Fabris were on Monday around 4pm. It was still light outside the window.
For today, these are the biggest events with the participation of Italians: Goggia in the downhill, Brignone and Bassino - giant slalom, Ghiotto in speed skating, short track with Sighel and maybe Fontana + Vitozzi in biathlon.
Edited by copravolley
You do not have permission to view this content.
-
Who's Online 2 Members, 0 Anonymous, 92 Guests (See full list)
Posted
So this last operation didn't help?
Link to post
Share on other sites