Cortina's controversial Olympic sliding track to host test races without fans

CORTINA D'AMPEZZO, Italy (AP) — There won’t be any spectators for the opening test races at the controversial sliding venue for the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics.

That’s because while the track itself is mostly complete, the surrounding area remains a massive construction site.

Still, the upcoming World Cup bobsled and skeleton meet from Friday to Sunday will double as an Olympic test event.

Luge athletes have also been testing out the venue ahead of the Feb. 6-22 games.

“We’ll have had about 250 athletes test the track over the span of a month. So that’s a good stress test for the future,” said Fabio Saldini, the Italian government commissioner who has been overseeing the venue’s construction.

The old Eugenio Monti track first opened in 1923 then closed in 2008 because of rising maintenance costs.

The International Olympic Committee wanted sliding events for these games to be held on an existing track in nearby Austria (Igls) or Switzerland (St. Moritz) instead. And the IOC forced the local organizing committee to come up with a backup plan that entailed using the facility in Lake Placid, New York, if the Cortina track wasn’t ready on time.

While work tearing down the old track and building a new venue on the same site began with less than two years to go before the games, organizers are confident they will finish the 118 million euros ($136 million) project in time.

“The quality of the ice has been optimal. With the roof in place, and moveable shades that can be shifted, the sun never shines on the ice,” Saldini said, adding that natural grass will be planted on top of the roof to mitigate the impact on the environment.

Unlike the old track that used only ammonia, the new venue’s refrigerant is 96% glycol — which is much more climate-friendly — with ammonia used only in the compressors in the machine room to ensure cooling.

The track's output will also be used to cool Cortina’s ice arena, which will host curling during the Olympics. And when the games are finished and the ice arena returns to being a hockey venue, a new curling center is slated to be built that also will be cooled by the sliding center’s facilities.

The test event is also the opening World Cup event of the Olympic season for the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation.

It’s been almost 18 years since the last World Cup sliding event in Cortina was held in January 2008.

The new track is 100 meters longer than the old one (1,445 instead of 1,350 meters) and now features 16 corners instead of the previous 11.

Kaillie Humphries-Armbruster, the 40-year-old American bobsledder who has won three Olympic golds, is the only athlete in the 30-nation field who competed on the old Cortina track. She raced there for Canada in 2004, 2005 and 2008.

In skeleton, Cortina native Mattia Gaspari finally gets the chance to compete at home for host Italy.

Andrew Dampf is at https://x.com/AndrewDampf

AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics

A man works on the track ahead of a three-day skeleton and bobsled World Cup stage and Olympic test event in Cortina D'Ampezzo, Italy, Wednesday, Nov. 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

Ukraine's Yaroslav Lavreniuk takes the start at a training session ahead of a three-day skeleton and bobsled World Cup stage and Olympic test event in Cortina D'Ampezzo, Italy, Wednesday, Nov. 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

A worker's gloves and tool are lined up along the track ahead of a three-day skeleton and bobsled World Cup stage and Olympic test event in Cortina D'Ampezzo, Italy, Wednesday, Nov. 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

A forerunner practices on his bobsled during a training session ahead of a three-day skeleton and bobsled World Cup stage and Olympic test event in Cortina D'Ampezzo, Italy, Wednesday, Nov. 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

South Korea's Jung Seunggi takes the start at a training session ahead of a three day skeleton and bobsled World Cup stage and Olympic test event in Cortina D'Ampezzo, Italy, Wednesday, Nov. 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

KAMPALA, Uganda (AP) — Voting began Thursday in Uganda’s presidential election despite a days-long internet shutdown that has been criticized as an anti-democratic tactic in a country where the president has held office since 1986.

Crowds gathered and long lines formed in some areas as polling station openings were delayed and voting materials were seen being delivered after the scheduled 7 a.m. opening time.

President Yoweri Museveni, 81, faces seven other candidates, including Robert Kyagulanyi, a musician-turned-politician best known as Bobi Wine, who is calling for political change.

The East African country of roughly 45 million people has 21.6 million registered voters. Polls are expected to close at 4 p.m. Thursday, according to the electoral commission. Results are constitutionally required to be announced in 48 hours.

Impatient crowds gathered outside polling stations expressing concerns over the delays Thursday morning. Umaru Mutyaba, a polling agent for a parliamentary candidate, said it was “frustrating” to be waiting outside a station in the capital Kampala.

“We can’t be standing here waiting to vote as if we have nothing else to do," he said.

Ssemujju Nganda, a prominent opposition figure and lawmaker seeking reelection in Kira municipality, told The Associated Press he had been waiting in line to vote for three hours.

In addition to delayed voting materials, biometric voter identification machines were not working properly, Nganda said, adding that delays likely will lead to apathy and low turnout in urban areas where the opposition has substantial support.

“It’s going to be chaos,” he said.

Uganda has not witnessed a peaceful transfer of presidential power since independence from British colonial rule six decades ago.

Museveni has served the third-longest term of any African leader and is seeking to extend his rule into a fifth decade. Some critics say removing him through elections remains difficult, but the aging president’s authority has become increasingly dependent on the military led by his son, Muhoozi Kainerugaba.

Museveni and Wine are reprising their rivalry from the previous election in 2021, when Wine appealed to mostly young people in urban areas. With voter turnout of 59%, Wine secured 35% of the ballots against Museveni’s 58%, the president’s smallest vote share since his first electoral campaign three decades ago.

The lead-up to Thursday's election produced concerns about transparency, the possibility of hereditary rule, military interference and opposition strategies to prevent vote tampering at polling stations.

Uganda's internet was shut down Tuesday by the government communications agency, which cited misinformation, electoral fraud and incitement of violence. The shutdown has affected the public and disrupted critical sectors such as banking.

There has been heavy security leading up to voting, including military units deployed on the streets this week.

Amnesty International said security forces are engaging in a “brutal campaign of repression,” citing a Nov. 28 opposition rally in eastern Uganda where the military blocked exits and opened fire on supporters, killing one person.

Museveni urged voters to come out in large numbers during his final rally Tuesday.

“You go and vote, anybody who tries to interfere with your freedom will be crushed. I am telling you this. We are ready to put an end to this indiscipline,” he said.

The national electoral commission chairperson, Simon Byabakama, urged tolerance among Ugandans as they vote.

“Let us keep the peace that we have,” Byabakama said late Wednesday. “Let us be civil. Let us be courteous. Let’s be tolerant. Even if you know that this person does not support (your) candidate, please give him or her room or opportunity to go and exercise his or her constitutional right."

Authorities also suspended the activities of several civic groups during the campaign season. That Group, a prominent media watchdog, closed its office Wednesday after the interior ministry alleged in a letter that the group was involved in activities “prejudicial to the security and laws of Uganda.”

Veteran opposition figure Kizza Besigye, a four-time presidential candidate, remains in prison after he was charged with treason in February 2025.

Uganda opposition presidential candidate Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu, known as Bobi Wine, right, greets election observers, including former Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan, at his home in Magere village on the outskirts of Kampala, Uganda, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Hajarah Nalwadda)

Billboards of Uganda President and National Resistance Movement (NRM) presidential candidate Yoweri Museveni are seen in Kampala, Uganda, Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Samson Otieno)

Electoral workers deliver ballot boxes to a polling station during presidential election in Kampala, Uganda, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)

Voters are reflected in a police officer's sunglasses as they wait in line after voting failed to start on time due to system failures during presidential election in Kampala, Uganda, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)

Voters wait to cast their ballots during the presidential election in Kampala, Uganda, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)