Bobsleigh at Cortina d'Ampezzo was introduced in 1905-6 using a snow-covered road on the Dolomite Road between Cortina and Pocol.[2] An attempt was made in 1911 to build an artificial bobsleigh run near the centre of Cortina, but that failed due to funding issues.[2] By 1923, a new track 1200 metres in length, was constructed in Ronco, a village near Cortina on the Dolomite Road laid with special water piping constructed into the earth and covered with turf to allow for track freezing.[2]
The track made its international debut in 1928 at the International University Winter Games (forerunner of the Winter Universiade, under administration by the International University Sports Federation), giving the track first notice, increasing its growth.[2] Rebuilding of the track occurred in 1936 to meet the standards of other tracks such as St. Moritz, Switzerland and Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany with the finish of the track moving down to the bank of the Boite River.[2] This extended the track length to 1500 metres with 15 turns and a vertical drop of 152 metres.[2] The track hosted its first FIBT World Championships in 1937 in the two-man event.[2][3]Two years later, it hosted the four-man event of the FIBT World Championships though it would lead to the death of SwissbobsledderReto Capadrutt during competition.[4][5] Another renovation occurred with the track after World War II in 1948, when all of the turns were rebuilt and the track lengthened to 1700 metres and 16 turns.[2]
The track played a key role in improving bobsleigh safety when West Germany's Toni Pensperger was killed during the four-man event at the 1966 World Championships.[6] Because of Pensperger's death, the world championships did not take place at the track until safety improvements were made satisfactory to the Fédération Internationale de Bobsleigh et de Tobogganing (FIBT). This was not until 1981, though the death of American bobsledder James Morgan during the four-man event on February 8 led to track officials shortening the course to its current configuration.[7] The week following the 1981 championships, the track was filmed as part of the movie For Your Eyes Only; one of the stuntmen involved, Paolo Rigon, was killed during the first day of filming.[8][9]
By 1989 the track was deemed safe enough by the FIBT to host another world championship.[3] Following the death of Eugenio Monti in 2003, the Olympic Bobrun Cortina was renamed the Eugenio Monti Track (Italian: Eugenio Monti pista) early the following year.[10] The track was awarded the 2011 World Championships in June 2007 over Winterberg, Germany, and was to have undergone homologation to involve skeleton (last competed in 1992) as well, though that was not done during the 2007-08 Bobsleigh and Skeleton World Cup season.[11][12] Following some issues with the city of Cortina, the track withdrew its winning bid to host the 2011 championships, leading the FIBT to award the event instead to Königssee, Germany.[13] The track is now artificially refrigerated.[14]
On October 16, 2023, it was reported that the track will not be rebuilt to host the 2026 Winter Olympics, which will be hosted by Cortina D'Ampezzo, along with Milan, as no qualifying construction bids were submitted.[15] The Organizing Committee, along with the IOC and the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation have studied possibilities to hold the event in another place. Officials are still trying to rebuild the Monti track, but officials have added Mt. Van Hoevenberg Olympic Bobsled Run as a backup in Lake Placid, New York.
Track statistics
The track used for the 1956 Winter Olympics had 16 curves that was 1,700 meters long with an elevation difference of 152 meters.[2] Turns 3 and 5 were not named.
"Lookout" in Italian. Also for a small town near the track.
12.
Bandion
After a small town near the track.
13.
Rettifilo Antelao
"Straightaway before Antelao"
14.
Antelao
After the highest mountain in the eastern Dolomites, South-East of Cortina.
15.
Cristallo
"Crystal" in Italian. Name of another Peak, North-East of the town of Cortina. In the 1981 film For Your Eyes Only, Bond leaps from this corner of the track to escape from Kreigler.
Following the 1981 FIBT World Championships, the track was shortened to 1350 meters in length with 13 curves, an elevation drop of 120.45 meters, a maximum grade of 15.9%, and an average grade of 9.3%.[16][17]
FIBT track profile - Track diagram shown is the track prior to its reconfiguration in 1981 though video image shown is for track in its current configuration.
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