CASE STUDY VENUES AFTER THE WINTER OLYMPICS: THE CASE OF TORINO 2006 The Winter Olympics have always been a great opportunity for mountain regions: they bring fame, glory, and also an economic revival as there is the need for a certain number of facilities to host the different sport competitions. Some of these facilities often already exist and simply have to be refurbished for the events, but many others have to be built and, quite often, once the Olympic Games end, become disused and decayed. This was the case of Turin after the 20th Olympic Winter Games in February 2006. Events in the city At the Olympics in Turin, some events were held in the city, but all the skiing and bobsleigh competitions took place in small mountain resorts surrounding the city. A large city is able to sustain a major sporting event better than a small town, because the facilities can be repurposed without economic losses. And in fact, after the Winter Games in Turin ended, the ice-skating and hockey facilities built there have continued to be used for multiple sports and cultural events, concerts, fairs, and exhibitions. burden: fardello to decay: decadere 5 O R D W S Adapted from: https://www.cipra.org/en/news/4210 to repurpose: riconvertire Read the text and find the words corresponding to the definitions. conditions. ............................................................. 2. To renovate, refresh, or fix. ............................................................. 3. A sport made on a sled where a crew 5. To adapt something to be used in a different way. ............................................................. 6. The process of preserving the conditions of something. ............................................................. 7. A group of people living in the same area or of two or four racers sits. having some characteristics in common. ............................................................. ................................................... 4. To support, either physically or mentally. ............................................................. To go The cost Sports facilities have very high building and maintenance costs, not to mention the costs resulting from their impact on the environment; moreover, ski jumping and bobsleigh are sports that have no tradition in Italy or in the western Alps in particular, where they are practised by only a very few athletes. The high maintenance costs of these facilities are a heavy burden on the mountain communities in whose area they are located. And since these small towns are often unable to raise the funds needed to maintain the facilities, these are likely to be demolished. For the future editions of the Winter Olympic Games the Turin experience is crucial to underline the challenges of maintaining big sports facilities after the Olympics, especially in smaller mountain communities. facility: struttura to refurbish: ristrutturare 1. An improvement in something or in someone s 70 Events in mountain resorts Unfortunately, that was not what happened for many venues built in mountain resorts. On the one hand, the venues that already existed before the games are still in use. These include some ski courses that were equipped with new snowmaking systems and chair-lifts. On the other hand, sports venues which were built for ski jumping and bobsleigh, for example, have either been hardly used or left to decay. 8. Money provided for a particular purpose. .............................................................