Torino (Italy): Most of the world is counting the days till the torch is lit for the winter Olympics in Torino. However, in Italy the countdown began from the day Greece passed the Olympic flame to Italy in 1999.
It's been a mad-dash ever since. CNN's Alessio Vinci relates whether Torino will be ready to "let the games begin".
Since the clock started ticking in 1999, Torino has gone through a transformation worth more than $ three-and-a-half billion.
The money has gone into getting stadiums ready for the big event and creating infrastructure for 2,500 athletes 1,400 Olympic officials, 10,000 journalists and over a million visitors.
Says Turin Organizing Committee for the Olympic Winter Games (TOROC) President, Valentino Castellani, "We are very tense in the sense that we know the responsibility that we have. We are also completely aware that the quality of the games depends on many details that we have to take care of."
Officials readily admit the devil is in the details. That said the main venues are ready - the Olympic stadium.
A brand new ice hockey arena and a state of the art ice-palace for speed and figure skating arena are also in place.
City officials acknowledge some of the works will not be completed by the time the games begin but these are non-Olympic works such as this new subway system.
And the weather is finally playing along, with plenty of snow adding its own finishing touch at long last.
Comments
0 comment