Eugenio Monti track

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Unidentified bobsleigh during practice at the track in 2007. Piste Eugenio Monti.jpg
Unidentified bobsleigh during practice at the track in 2007.

The Eugenio Monti track (Italian : Pista Olimpica di Bob - Eugenio Monti [1] ) is a bobsleigh and skeleton track located in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy. It is named after Eugenio Monti (1928–2003), who won six bobsleigh medals at the Winter Olympic Games between 1956 and 1968 and ten medals at the FIBT World Championships between 1957 and 1966. It was featured in the 1981 James Bond film For Your Eyes Only , held after the 1981 FIBT World Championships, before the track was shortened to its current configuration. In January 2008, after a last bobsleigh race tournament, the track was closed.

Italian language Romance language

Italian is a Romance language of the Indo-European language family. Italian, together with Sardinian, is by most measures the closest language to Vulgar Latin of the Romance languages. Italian is an official language in Italy, Switzerland, San Marino and Vatican City. It has an official minority status in western Istria. It formerly had official status in Albania, Malta, Monaco, Montenegro (Kotor) and Greece, and is generally understood in Corsica and Savoie. It also used to be an official language in the former Italian East Africa and Italian North Africa, where it plays a significant role in various sectors. Italian is also spoken by large expatriate communities in the Americas and Australia. In spite of not existing any Italian community in their respective national territories and of not being spoken at any level, Italian is included de jure, but not de facto, between the recognized minority languages of Bosnia-Herzegovina and Romania. Many speakers of Italian are native bilinguals of both standardized Italian and other regional languages.

Bobsleigh winter sliding sport, where 2 or 4 participants propel a vehicle down a track of ice

Bobsleigh or bobsled is a winter sport in which teams of two or four teammates make timed runs down narrow, twisting, banked, iced tracks in a gravity-powered sleigh. The timed runs are combined to calculate the final score.

Skeleton (sport) Winter sliding sport

Skeleton is a winter sliding sport in which a person rides a small sled, known as a skeleton bobsled, down a frozen track while lying face down and head-first. The sport and the sled may have been named from the bony appearance of the sled.

Contents

History

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]

Snow precipitation in the form of flakes of crystalline water ice

Snow refers to forms of ice crystals that precipitate from the atmosphere and undergo changes on the Earth's surface. It pertains to frozen crystalline water throughout its life cycle, starting when, under suitable conditions, the ice crystals form in the atmosphere, increase to millimeter size, precipitate and accumulate on surfaces, then metamorphose in place, and ultimately melt, slide or sublimate away. Snowstorms organize and develop by feeding on sources of atmospheric moisture and cold air. Snowflakes nucleate around particles in the atmosphere by attracting supercooled water droplets, which freeze in hexagonal-shaped crystals. Snowflakes take on a variety of shapes, basic among these are platelets, needles, columns and rime. As snow accumulates into a snowpack, it may blow into drifts. Over time, accumulated snow metamorphoses, by sintering, sublimation and freeze-thaw. Where the climate is cold enough for year-to-year accumulation, a glacier may form. Otherwise, snow typically melts seasonally, causing runoff into streams and rivers and recharging groundwater.

Dolomites mountain range in the Alps

The Dolomites are a mountain range located in northeastern Italy. They form a part of the Southern Limestone Alps and extend from the River Adige in the west to the Piave Valley in the east. The northern and southern borders are defined by the Puster Valley and the Sugana Valley. The Dolomites are nearly equally shared between the provinces of Belluno, South Tyrol and Trentino.

Pocol human settlement in Italy

Pocol is a village and ski resort in the Veneto region of northeast Italy. The village is a località of the comune of Cortina d'Ampezzo, in the province of Belluno.

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 Swiss bobsledder Reto 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]

Universiade recurring international multi-sport event, organized for university athletes by the International University Sports Federation (FISU)

The Universiade is an international multi-sport event, organized for university athletes by the International University Sports Federation (FISU). The name is a combination of the words "University" and "olympiad". The Universiade is often referred to in English as the World University Games or World Student Games; however, this latter term can also refer to competitions for sub-University grades students The Universiade is the largest multi-sport event in the world apart from the Olympic Games. The most recent games were in 2017: the Winter Universiade was in Almaty, Kazakhstan, while the Summer Universiade was held in Taipei, Taiwan. The 2019 Winter Universiade took place in Krasnoyarsk, Russian Federation, between the 2nd and 12th March 2019, and the 2019 Summer Universiade will be held in Naples, Italy between 3 and 14 July.

International University Sports Federation international student sports governing body

The Fédération Internationale du Sport Universitaire is responsible for the organisation and governance of worldwide sports competitions for student-athletes between the ages of 17 and 28. It was founded in 1949 as the world governing body of national university sports organisations and currently has 174 member associations from five continents. Between 1949 and 2011, it was based in Brussels (Belgium); since 2011, it is based in Lausanne (Switzerland).

St. Moritz-Celerina Olympic Bobrun Oldest bobsleigh, skeleton and luge track in the world

The Olympia Bob Run St. Moritz-Celerina is a bobsleigh track located in the Engadin Valley, Switzerland. It officially opened on New Year's Day 1904 and is the oldest bobsleigh track in the world and the only one that is natural refrigerated. It is also used for other sliding sports, including skeleton and luge.

When the International Olympic Committee awarded the 1956 Winter Olympics to Cortina, the Italian National Olympic Committee (CONI) took over all operations and improvement of the track at considerable expense. [2] Following the 1952 Winter Olympics in Oslo, track officials added large scoreboards, and electronic timing and scoring. [2] The track used for the 1956 Winter Olympics was 1720 metres long with 16 turns and an elevation drop of 152 metres. [2] When a bobsleigh track was not built for the 1960 Winter Olympics in Squaw Valley, California in the United States, the track in Cortina was used to host the world championships that year in place of being excluded from the Winter Olympic Games. [3]

International Olympic Committee ruling body of the Olympic movement

The International Olympic Committee is a non-governmental sports organisation based in Lausanne, Switzerland. Created by Pierre de Coubertin and Demetrios Vikelas in 1894, it is the authority responsible for organising the modern Summer and Winter Olympic Games.

1956 Winter Olympics 7th edition of Winter Olympics, held in Cortina dAmpezzo (Italy) in 1956

The 1956 Winter Olympics, officially known as the VII Olympic Winter Games, was a multi-sport event held in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, from 26 January to 5 February 1956.

Italian National Olympic Committee

The Italian National Olympic Committee, founded in 1914 and a member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), is responsible for the development and management of sports activity in Italy. Within Italy, CONI recognizes 45 national sports federations, 16 associate sports disciplines, 12 promotional sports organizations, 1 territorial sports organization, and 19 organizations for the betterment of sports. In total 95,000 sports clubs with 11,000,000 members are recognized. Its 2016 annual budget is 412,900,000 euros which is primarily funded by the Italian government.

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]

West Germany Federal Republic of Germany in the years 1949–1990

West Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, and referred to by historians as the Bonn Republic, was a country in Central Europe that existed from 1949 to 1990, when the western portion of Germany was part of the Western bloc during the Cold War. It was created during the Allied occupation of Germany in 1949 after World War II, established from eleven states formed in the three Allied zones of occupation held by the United States, the United Kingdom and France. Its capital was the city of Bonn.

Anton "Toni" Pensperger was a West German bobsledder who competed during the 1960s. He was posthumously awarded a gold medal in the four-man event after he was killed during the event at the 1966 FIBT World Championships in Cortina d'Ampezzo. His surviving teammates Ludwig Siebert, Helmut Werzer, and Roland Ebert would receive their golds as well.

The FIBT World Championships 1966 took place in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy for the sixth time, having hosted the event previously in 1937 (Two-man), 1939 (Four-man), 1950, 1954, and 1960. The Four-man event was cancelled following the death of West Germany's Toni Pensperger during competition. Pensperger would be awarded a posthumous gold medal from the FIBT along with his surviving teammates Ludwig Siebert, Helmut Werzer, and Roland Ebert. As of 2010, Pensperger's death would set the FIBT to increase and improve safety among all bobsleigh competitions at all levels, including the Winter Olympics and the World championships.

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 piste (track in (in Italian)) 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) 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 bid to host the 2011 championships so the FIBT awarded the championships instead to Königssee, Germany. [13] The track is now artificially refrigerated. [14] The venue could be waked up alive if Cortina will co-host 2026 Winter Olympics with Milan.

The FIBT World Championships 1989 took place in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy (Bobsleigh) and St. Moritz, Switzerland (Skeleton). Cortina hosted the championships for the eighth time, having hosted the event previously in 1937 (Two-man), 1939 (Four-man), 1950, 1954, 1960, 1966, and 1981. Meanwhile, St. Moritz hosted a championship event for the record sixteenth time. The Swiss city had hosted the event previously in 1931 (Four-man), 1935 (Four-man), 1937 (Four-man), 1938 (Two-man), 1939 (Two-man), 1947, 1955, 1957, 1959, 1965, 1970, 1974, 1977, 1982, and 1987. The skeleton event became an official championship event this year, albeit at a separate location from the bobsleigh event. They would not be at the same location other than St. Moritz for the first time until the 1996 championships in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

FIBT World Championships 2011

The FIBT World Championships 2011 took place 14 February – 27 February 2011 in Königssee, Germany, for the fifth time, doing so previously in 1979, 1986, and 1990 (skeleton), and 2004. In 2007, the championships were awarded to Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy over Winterberg Germany, but Cortina withdrew in February 2009 to issues with the city of Cortina.

Winterberg bobsleigh, luge, and skeleton track winter sports facility in Germany

The Winterberg bobsleigh, luge, and skeleton track is a bobsleigh, luge, and skeleton track located in Winterberg, Germany. It is the only track of its kind in the world with a turn that has corporate sponsorship with turn seven being sponsored by Veltins, a German brewery which has its headquarters located in neighboring Meschede.

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.

1956 track physical statistics
Turn NumberNameReason named
1.Partenza"Departure" or "start" in Italian
2.Vecchia"Old" in Italian. In the 1981 film For Your Eyes Only, James Bond (Roger Moore) appears on this part of this track while evading East German biathlete Erich Kriegler (John Wyman) and his henchmen.
4.Sties
6.Verzi
7.Sento"Feeling curve" in Italian
8., 9., 10.Labirinto"Labyrinth" in Italian
11.Belvedere"Lookout" in Italian. Also for a small town near the track.
12.BandionAfter a small town near the track.
13.Rettifilo Antelao"Straightaway before Antelao"
14.AntelaoAfter 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.
16.Arrivo"Finish" in Italian

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%. [15] [16]

Current track statistics
Turn NumberNameReason named
1.Verzi
2.Rettifilo Sento"Straightaway before Sento"
3.Sento
4., 5., 6.Labrinto
7.Belvedere
8.Bandion
9.Rettifilo Antelao
10.Antelao
11.Cristallo
12.Curva Valletta"Valletta Curve"
13.Arrivo
Track records [16]
SportRecordNation - athlete(s)DateTime (seconds)
Bobsleigh two-manStartFlag of Canada.svg  Canada - Pierre Lueders & Giulio Zardo January 19, 20024.84
Bobsleigh two-manTrackFlag of Germany.svg  Germany - Thomas Florschütz & Sascha Scheleter January 12, 200652.80
Bobsleigh four-manStartFlag of Switzerland.svg   Switzerland - Martin Annen, Andreas Gees, Beat Hefti, & Cedric Grand December 19, 20044.74
Bobsleigh four-manTrackFlag of France.svg  France - Bruno Mingeon, Emmanuel Hostache, Christophe Fourquet, & Max Robert January 16, 200051.96
Bobsleigh two-womanStartFlag of Canada.svg  Canada - Helen Upperton & Jennifer Ciochetti January 12, 20075.29
Bobsleigh two-womanTrackFlag of Germany.svg  Germany - Sandra Kiriasis & Romy Logsch January 12, 200754.60

Championships hosted

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References

  1. ↑ "Cortina Impianti sportivi" (in Italian). cortina.dolomiti.org. Retrieved 1 December 2013.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 1956 Winter Olympic Games official report. pp. 175-9. (in English) & (in Italian)
  3. 1 2 3 4 List of two-man bobsleigh world championship medalists since 1931. Archived September 29, 2007, at the Wayback Machine .
  4. 1 2 List of four-man bobsleigh world championship medalists since 1930. Archived December 11, 2007, at the Wayback Machine .
  5. ↑
  6. ↑ "The Deadly Zig-Zag". TIME. March 4, 1966 - Pensperger's death is mentioned.
  7. ↑ Bunksplace.com article on the Morgan death during the 1981 FIBT World Championships in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy. - Accessed January 21, 2008.
  8. ↑ Morgan, John. "Re:Cortina track and For Your Eyes Only" E-mail to Chris Miller. 4 May 2007.
  9. ↑ For Your Eyes Only production notes featuring the Cortina track
  10. ↑ Bob Club Cortina official website
  11. ↑ FIBT awards 2011 championships to Cortina d'Ampezzo - deadlink from www.bobsleigh.com
  12. ↑ Viessman World Cup Resumes in Cortina at the Fédération Internationale de Bobsleigh et de Tobogganing (9 January 2008 article on 2007-08 Bobsleigh World Cup that did not include skeleton. Accessed 2 December 2009.)
  13. ↑ Königssee to Host 2011 FIBT World Championship at the Fédération Internationale de Bobsleigh et de Tobogganing (28 February 2009 accessed 2 December 2009.)
  14. ↑ Dolomiti.org track profile.
  15. ↑ FIBT track profile Archived 2011-07-19 at the Wayback Machine .
  16. 1 2 Bob Club Cortina track map (in Italian)

Coordinates: 46°32′43.8″N12°7′40.8″E / 46.545500°N 12.128000°E / 46.545500; 12.128000

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