国产热热热精品,亚洲视频久久】日韩,三级婷婷在线久久,99人妻精品视频,精品九热人人肉肉在线,AV东京热一区二区,91po在线视频观看,久久激情宗合,青青草黄色手机视频

Global EditionASIA 中文雙語Fran?ais
Sports
Home / Sports

New hockey arena passes first test ahead of Games

IOC 'impressed' with progress, as work continues to be fully ready for NHL stars

Xinhua | Updated: 2026-01-13 09:21
Share
Share - WeChat
An outside view of the Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena in Milan on Sunday shows the exterior covered in scaffolding and plastic sheeting, as work continues to get the venue ready for the start of the hockey competition at the Milano-Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics, which begins with the women's event on Feb 5. [Photo/Agencies]

MILAN — The International Olympic Committee says it's impressed with the new hockey arena for the Milano-Cortina Games, even if parts of it still look like a building site.

The Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena will be one of the focal points of the games next month, with NHL players returning to the Olympics for the first time in more than a decade.

However, the venue has also been the focal point of the buildup, with construction delays and other matters causing concern.

It is finally ready — or, at least, almost.

The ice rink is in place and most of the seating, but there is still an abundance of plastic sheeting, while some areas such as the locker rooms are far from finished.

"What I see, personally, is an extraordinary seating bowl and this venue … looks fantastic," IOC Olympic Games executive director Christophe Dubi said Sunday. "The last time I came was before Christmas, and this is radically different. So, so much progress. (To everyone) involved here, hats off.

"There's only one way to go, and that is the view of the experts … and what they tell us, first class."

The NHL previously expressed concern about ice quality due to construction delays, with deputy commissioner Bill Daly saying the league would not send its players if there were any safety concerns.

The IOC shared some of those worries.

"Although we were facing a lot of difficulties, we always had a very strong plan," Dubi said. "Now having a plan does not mean that you're going to get there, but there was so much oversight and so much expertise thrown at this venue, with probably the best engineers, the best Ice Meister, everything that could be thrown at that venue was thrown.

"So, did I ever have doubts? No. Was I concerned? Certainly. Because if you were here six months ago, it didn't look this way I can tell you.

"It's incredible what they've done, really incredible."

Dubi was speaking on the final day of a long-awaited, three-day test event at the arena.

The original test event, scheduled in December, didn't happen because of the construction delays. The one scheduled this weekend — the final league and cup games of the domestic season — is less than a month out from the women's competition.

The NHL is expected to release a statement at the end of its visit to the new arena, with a delegation having spent time there over the past three days.

The International Ice Hockey Federation can see no barrier to the NHL returning to the Olympics for the first time since 2014, especially after having simulated Olympic conditions at the test event with three matches a day on Saturday and Sunday.

"We know how it's difficult to have a high level of quality of ice for the third period of the third game. Yesterday, that was a good test because that was fantastic, the puck was sliding, it was not bumping," IIHF president Luc Tardif said. "So, we'll go back to Zurich happy and confident.

"We're going to make a report, but yesterday that was a test, so there is no reason that NHL will not come …We want to ensure the quality of the ice, the security of the players, it doesn't matter where they come from. So, now I can say that we're ready for the competition."

The players themselves said they were happy with the quality of the ice.

Canadian James Livingston, who plays for the Wipptal Broncos, said he was sure his compatriots in the NHL would be fine.

"I mean, we all grew up playing on ponds back in Canada, so I'm sure that whatever gets thrown at them, they're gonna adapt and they're gonna enjoy it," he told reporters. "And they are playing for their country. So, I think it will be a great competition."

The women's Olympic hockey tournament is scheduled to run Feb 5-19, and the men's from Feb 11-22.

Most Popular

Highlights

What's Hot
Top
BACK TO THE TOP
English
Copyright 1994 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site.
License for publishing multimedia online 0108263

Registration Number: 130349
FOLLOW US
温州市| 武川县| 上林县| 谷城县| 宁海县| 平遥县| 亚东县| 安溪县| 苗栗县| 大悟县| 垣曲县| 隆回县| 喀喇| 庆云县| 阿瓦提县| 蒙山县| 南宫市| 正阳县| 古浪县| 鄄城县| 曲靖市| 阿鲁科尔沁旗| 绩溪县| 渝中区| 巴林右旗| 张家界市| 格尔木市| 佳木斯市| 衡山县| 哈巴河县| 舒兰市| 灵宝市| 佛冈县| 龙陵县| 龙胜| 涿州市| 无锡市| 淄博市| 封开县| 思南县| 攀枝花市|