Will St. Moritz participate in 2026?: The truth about Switzerland’s chances to participate in the Olympics

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The 2026 Olympic races in bobsleigh, skeleton and luge will definitely be held outside Italy because the new construction of the bobsleigh track in Cortina failed – in Austria they are already confident that the ice rink in Igls near Innsbruck will take over.

But in the spring, Blick revealed Switzerland’s secret plan to intervene in an emergency at the legendary natural ice rink in St. Moritz.

The railway operators, Swiss Olympic and Swiss Sliding, have long supported the idea. Now we are really working on it in the background.

Without renovation, Innsbruck does not have a permit

Because things for Innsbruck are not as clear as the Tyroleans would like. The truth behind Switzerland’s Olympic chances: they are absolutely intact. One of the reasons: St. Moritz is basically ready already. A major event, the Bobsleigh World Championships, only took place in January and the IT systems were modernized for this, for example. Regardless of the Olympic chances, the water pipes are currently being replaced.

In Innsbruck, however, the permit expires in December 2024. The planned renovation of around 30 million euros must be completed by then, especially in the dangerous target area.

After the Cortina Theater, do the Italian Olympic Games really want to make plans again for the replacement solution with a course that has not yet been completed two and a half years before the Games? Open.

The powerful ice rink nation of Germany, in the person of Secretary General Thomas Schwab, also openly votes for Innsbruck; he considers the Swiss natural ice rink unsafe for the weather on the Olympic date in February.

However, in recent winters there have been problems with heat drops at the beginning of the season, but conditions have always been good at the end of the season. So nice that there will be an extra week of driving in March 2024. There is also the idea that cooling mats could be built into the natural ice in visible curves for the Olympic Games.

St. Moritz needs temporary floodlights for evening training

Actually, the German medalists are not concerned about the weather anyway, but rather about the training. There is a lot of riding in Innsbruck (the season starts in November), but in the Engadine there are hardly any training opportunities abroad due to the shorter opening hours (opening at Christmas) and the full program.

One thing is clear: the lead time is also quite short at the replacement locations. Numerous issues also need to be addressed as quickly as possible in St. Moritz. The Olympics will require temporary buildings such as TV-compatible floodlights, more stands than during the World Cup, more media work stations and the starting area may need to be covered. It is also not yet clear how the costs will be divided between the Italians and the alternative locations.

And then the spirit of the times could also play into St. Moritz’s hands. The IOC wants more sustainability. The natural ice rink could hardly be more symbolic of this – it is also traditionally built by South Tyroleans.

But Innsbruck and St. Moritz may suddenly face danger from France. The 1992 Olympic course in La Plagne is now also in the spotlight for 2026.

Source : Blick