TEAM GB are ready to send bobsleighers and skeleton sliders to the United States if Italian Winter Games bosses fail with their ambitious £72million rebuild.
The 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics begin in a year on Thursday with the opening ceremony taking place at the iconic San Siro.
Organisers are rebuilding a century-old track in Cortina - the Eugenio Monti Olympic Track - for the bobsled, luge and skeleton events.
Named after six-time Winter Olympic medallist Eugenio Monti, the venue famously featured in the 1981 James Bond film, For Your Eyes Only starring Roger Moore.
But there are concerns it will not be finished in time within the next 12 months.
And Lake Placid in New York State – which is 6,000 miles away from the Italian Alps – would incredibly host the competition as a back-up plan.
Eve Muirhead, the chef de mission for the next Games, said: “We’re all quite calm because I guess us, as a nation, cannot do anything about it.
“Every time we have gone out there, there has definitely been progress made for the sliding centre. They’re working hard to make it work.
“If it doesn’t go to plan and it turns out it’s not going to be able to take place there, then that’s when we change our plan – and we take whatever we have in front of us.
“The sliding team – bobsleigh and skeleton – are just going to have to go with whatever track is put in front of them.
“The organising committee are doing monthly checks on the sliding and all is up to speed and up to date.
“There’s still some work to do on it but they are very positive about the next check in mid-February. And the homologation in March.
“So we’ve just got to work with what we have in front of us.”
Muirhead, 34, saved Team GB’s blushes in Beijing 2022 when she skippered the British women to Olympic gold – she finally won the title at her fourth attempt in 12 years.
Since retirement from the rinks, the Scotswoman has been promoted to the prestigious top job – only the second woman to lead a British Olympic team in 129 years.
A squad of about 50 will be selected next year and they will be looking to match the five medals won in Sochi in 2014 and PyeongChang four years later.
Brits Matt Weston and Marcus Wyatt — currently first and second in the World Cup standings — will be bidding to win gold in the men’s skeleton, wherever it is held.
Mia Brookes, 18, is one to watch in snowboard events while Lilah Fear and Lewis Gibson are hoping to win a figure skating medal like former Olympic champions Torvill and Dean did on two occasions.
Muirhead said: “It’s a different kind of pressure this time. I know how satisfying it is to go out there with the Team GB logo on.
“You want to see those athletes with a smile on their faces, and coming away from the Games knowing they’ve done as well as they can and have memories that will last a lifetime.”
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