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MILAN :Organisers of the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics said they face a race to get a new ice hockey venue ready in time as they marked 100 days to go before the Games begin. Progress on the Santagiulia ice hockey venue has emerged as the main headache in the run-up to the Games which will be co-hosted by Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo and run from February 6-22 next year. "We knew that the venue would be handed over very close to the Games," Andrea Varnier, CEO of the local organising committee, said on Wednesday. "It will be ready in time because there is no alternative. There will be very important athletes here, including those from the NHL," he added, referring to the elite U.S. National Hockey League. TESTING THE ICE A test event is being scheduled for early January when both the temporary ice to be used for the Games and the wider facilities at the new venue will be tried out. Located in the south-east of Milan, the arena will have 14,000 seats. It is one of two ice hockey venues but is scheduled to host the gold medal games. After the Games, it will be converted into a centre to host a variety of sports and live entertainment. Varnier said that more than 850,000 tickets had been sold so far for the Games, which he said was ahead of forecasts. The Olympics will be spread over a large part of northern Italy, with a number of other locations hosting sports as well as the co-hosts Milan and Cortina. It is the first time that the Games have been held in western Europe since Italy staged them in Turin in 2006 and organisers are expecting a big influx of overseas tourists. Local organisers this week agreed a partnership with ride-hailing service Uber to help with transport during the Games.
