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- Lake Placid, New York, may host 2026 Winter Games sliding sports if Italy's track isn't ready.
- The U.S. Olympic Committee is in talks with Italian organizers for this backup plan.
- Italy remains focused on completing their track, with test runs planned for March.
SALT LAKE CITY – What had seemed like a far-fetched backup plan for sliding sports at the 2026 Winter Games in Italy is a step closer to reality.
Lake Placid, New York, host of the 1932 and 1980 Winter Games, is in talks with organizers of the next Winter Games in Milan-Cortina to hold bobsled, luge and skeleton competitions if an aging track being rebuilt in Cortina isn't ready, U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee officials confirmed.
"We have an incredible venue in Lake Placid," Sarah Hirshland, the CEO of the USOPC, told reporters this week. "Early on, when there was question about the viability of a sliding center in Italy, we raised our hands and said if you need support or need assistance, we are here to help. So we are in dialogue with the organizing committee."
Some European tracks stepped up, too, but Italian organizers apparently are looking at one of the two sliding venues in the United States. The other is the track Utah built for the 2002 Winter Games located at the Utah Olympic Park near Park City that's set to be used again for the 2034 Winter Games.
Was Utah asked to host Olympic events in 2026?
When the call went out last year for a back-up track for Italy's Olympics, Utah was still bidding to host another Olympics and passed. Fraser Bullock, president and CEO of the Salt Lake City-Utah Committee for the Games behind the successful bid, said at the time there were "many excellent alternatives, and we are focusing on 2034."
Even as they line up a possible alternative, Italy's Olympic organizers are "incredibly focused" on getting their track finished, with plans for test runs in March, Hirshland said. "We are excited about that, and actually hold promise that that will happen.. ... We will keep our fingers crossed. That is what is best for Milan-Cortina and what's best for athletes, Team USA and others."
She said while the USOPC is prepared to assist with sliding sports for the 2026 Games , "it's certainly not the ideal first choice or first plan. But if it's required, our country and the state of New York and Lake Placid, and the organizers up in Lake Placid who host so many events on an annual basis, we're ready and we'll be happy to help support."
What the IOC says about Milan-Cortina's Olympic sliding track issues
Earlier this month, International Olympic Committee officials said work is underway on the Italian track .
"The pace of construction is pretty rapid at this point in time," Christophe Dubi, the IOC's Olympic Games executive director, told reporters, noting the track is "more technical " than other venues still being built. The testing in March is scheduled to allow for any needed changes to be made in time for the 2025-2026 winter season.
The IOC had long opposed building a track for the Milan-Cortina Games, set to start Feb. 6, 2026, stating a preference for using an existing facility instead, in Switzerland or Austria. In 2023, Italy's Olympic organizers failed to attract any bids for what was then a $100 million project, but construction finally began this fall.
