Francisi, Milano Cortina Foundation: «The best choice for speed skating is the Oval in Milan»

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While waiting for the Milano Cortina 2026 Foundation to make a decision on the skating oval and whether the competition will take place in Milan or Turin, the technicians make their assessments. There is no doubt that at the moment the most accredited choice is that of Milan, which offers the premises of Rho fair with costs borne by a private individual (the Fiera Milano Foundation, owner of the buildings), for an amount of over 20 million.

He reiterates it Andrea Francisi, Games Operations manager of Milano Cortina 2026: «It is undisputed that for the Milano Cortina Foundation in terms of operations and also in terms of budget, the Milan solution is the most advantageous one, here in Milan we organize so many services that adding a venue does not involve anything serious, going to a whatever location it is increases the complexity and would also increase costs».

Then he adds: «To clear up any doubts, on the Foundation side, for us the choice can only and exclusively be Milan for many reasons, for the nature of the project, for the title of the project which is called Milano Cortina and not in any other way – he added -. It is not true that the international federation has placed an absolute veto”. Francisi explained that there was a visit to the Fair on 3rd April and «the IOC, the international federation, the Fair technicians were present and we invited three companies from Holland, Germany and Canada who we contacted to get a first level of information on the feasibility of building a temporary track inside the pavilions – he continued -. From my point of view, the meeting was very positive and the Fair technicians were very exhaustive».

The Fondazione Fiera «proposed to do some works that are not as complex as they are painted, the solution would be to join two pavilions by eliminating a central wall and moving a series of columns, creating the space to be able to install the speed skating track which is 400 meters – he continued -. The themes are two, the track would be temporary, and then the ventilation and dehumidification system because the ice must be perfect, because any depression could cause the athletes to fall. We know that this plant can be built and that with the right weather we are able to provide an adequate track». About Turin which proposed itself to host the races in the Oval facility, «we don’t know the state of the art of this facility».