The inaugural test race on the contentious refurbished sliding track for the upcoming Milan Cortina Olympics saw British skeleton world champion Matt Weston clinch victory on Friday. Weston triumphed over Austrian European champion Samuel Maier by a margin of 0.15 seconds after completing two runs on the Eugenio Monti track in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy. This event also marked the commencement of the skeleton World Cup for the Olympic season.
Yin Zheng from China secured the third position, finishing 0.18 seconds behind, setting a new track record with a time of 56.79 seconds in his initial run. Meanwhile, German junior world champion Lukas Nydegger achieved his best World Cup performance by coming in fourth, narrowly missing out on a podium finish by 0.05 seconds.
Among the American competitors, Austin Florian finished in 10th place, with local athlete Mattia Gaspari leading the Italian team in 17th position. In the women’s category, Jaqcueline Pfeifer claimed victory, marking her first World Cup win in nearly five years. She led the field, with a 0.23-second advantage over her German teammate and Olympic champion Hannah Neise, while Belgium’s Kim Meylemans secured the third spot, trailing by 0.32 seconds.
Following these races, a mixed team event was slated for the same day, followed by bobsled competitions over the weekend. Although the competitive section of the Cortina track is now operational, the surrounding infrastructure is still under development, and the test event did not permit spectators.
The International Olympic Committee initially proposed relocating the sliding events for the Games to neighboring Austria or Switzerland due to the closure of the Cortina track in 2008 due to escalating maintenance expenses. However, despite these concerns, the Italian government proceeded with the renovation, investing 118 million euros ($136 million) to revamp the venue. The forthcoming Olympics are scheduled to take place from February 6 to 22.