Trekking Among Italy’s Winter Olympic Venues? You’d Better Not Be in a Hurry.
The Games, beginning on Friday in northern Italy, will cover an area of nearly 8,500 square miles. Vast distances, narrow roadways, complicated transport links, and snowfall are expected to create major logistical challenges.
On the day the Olympic torch reached Cortina d’Ampezzo, one of the main hubs of this month’s Winter Games, another moment crucial to the event’s success unfolded 20 miles to the south, along a winding mountain road.
Claudio Andrea Gemme, head of Italy’s national highway authority, stood on a red carpet leading to the entrance of a newly completed tunnel, inaugurated after years of construction. “Our objective was to finish this project in time for the Olympics,” Mr. Gemme said, just before an Alpine marching band struck up and drowned out his voice. He then moved on to greet senior government officials and the local bishop, who blessed the tunnel with holy water and offered a prayer for the Games.
The 25th Winter Games, beginning this week, will be staged across eight different venues spread over roughly 8,500 square miles of northern Italy. The vast scale has created a logistical challenge so severe that each newly opened tunnel, added train service, or extended bus route is celebrated by organizers as a hard-won victory against daunting odds.
The venues are spread hundreds of miles apart, and even those that appear nearby are divided by twisting, icy mountain roads and wide alpine valleys. The men’s downhill race will take place in Bormio, north of Milan, while Nordic skiing events are scheduled for Val di Fiemme. The biathlon competitions will be held in Anterselva, close to the Austrian border.
Officials have described this dispersed layout as both innovative and environmentally responsible, emphasizing that it minimizes large-scale new construction while focusing on upgrading existing infrastructure, including roads like those surrounding the newly inaugurated tunnel. They have also promoted the spread-out plan as a benefit for spectators, offering visitors the opportunity to experience more of Italy beyond a single host city.
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