IOC hails 'incredible' Milano Cortina Games despite string of obstacles

MILAN, Feb 22 : The Milano Cortina Games surpassed expectations despite a large number of obstacles in the run-up to the world's biggest winter multi-sports event, the International Olympic Committee said on Sunday, ahead of the closing ceremony.

The Games, which started on February 6 with a dazzling opening ceremony at the San Siro stadium in Milan, were under extreme pressure for years due to tight deadlines and a number of building delays, with the widely dispersed venues across northern Italy posing additional challenges for organisers.

But when the curtain falls with the closing ceremony in the arena of Verona, organisers and the IOC can breathe a sigh of relief. 

"They have been fantastic," IOC President Kirsty Coventry said in her address to members at the Olympic body's session. "It could not happen without incredible teamwork... and we had it every step of the way."

"Over the last two weeks we have seen and experienced incredible Games. I have no words really," said Coventry, presiding over her first Games after her election last year.

It was a completely different picture only a few weeks before the start, with organisers scrambling to complete the Santagiulia ice hockey arena as well as the newly built sliding centre in Cortina d'Ampezzo, a hotly debated project throughout preparations due to the cost and tight construction deadlines.

Despite vocal IOC opposition, Italy decided midway through preparations in 2023 to build a new sliding centre in Cortina. The IOC had suggested that organisers could shift the competition to another country and an existing sliding centre.

The Italian government refused to move any Olympic events outside the country and opted to build a new one, piling more pressure on the embattled