Torino Gets Stoked

Saturday, Feb. 04, 2006 By JEFF ISRAELY / TORINO
ICE WARRIORS: The Czech Republic's Jaromir Jagr, at right, and Austria's Martin Ulrich battle it out in an Olympic qualifier
CHRISTOF STACHE / AP
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The proud town was in need of a lift when it bid for the Winter Games in 1998. As the bulk of Fiat's production moved away, the once-elegant city feared it might share the rusting fate of American carmaking capitals. So in the past decade, Torino has worked to rebrand itself as a center of scientific research and high-tech industry, and as a dynamic cultural destination. It boasts an archeological museum that possesses more artifacts from ancient Egypt — including the sarcophagus of Nefertiti — than anywhere outside of Cairo. The city's symbol, the Mole Antonelliana, a dome-plus-spire built in 1889 as part of a synagogue, now houses a fun cinema museum. Even Fiat's onetime central auto factory, the Lingotto, has been converted by architect Renzo Piano into a spiffy cultural and consumer mecca that includes an Agnelli art museum, a theater, a shopping mall and a five-star hotel. The Games have gone a long way toward updating Torino's Baroque-era cityscape with a new subway system, colorful Olympic housing that breaks with the predominant gray, and a scattering of shiny new sports venues. Most striking is the glass Oval Lingotto, which will house speed skating now and conventions in the future: its transparent top is suspended without pillars to create a sweeping open space. Gae Aulenti, the Italian architect who turned Paris' Gare d'Orsay into a stunning modern museum, has applied her magic to the 1960s-era Palavela skating rink. Preserving its sail-shaped outer structure, she introduced a new "building within a building" independent of the overlapping roof above. Yet the makeover has left intact Torino's graceful arcaded shopping streets, lively 19th century cafés and splendid squares: medal ceremonies will be held each night in the grand Piazza Castello against the backdrop of the imposing 350-year-old Palazzo Reale. Inside the cafés, visitors can indulge in Torino's sinful bicerin, a concoction of coffee, cream and the chocolate locals adore. They may work hard, but the Torinesi know how to make the aperitif hour a nightly, predinner tradition. As home to the annual Slow Food festival, a showcase for the movement that seeks to preserve Italy's traditional cuisine, Torino offers diners a rich choice of truffle sauces, sharp cheeses and full-bodied Barolo and Barbera wines — not to mention two native inventions, grissini, the ubiquitous breadstick, and the kid-favorite spread Nutella. Valentino Castellani, who shepherded through the city's successful bid during his eight-year stint as mayor, and is now head of Torino's Olympic Organizing Committee, wants those who associate la dolce vita only with Rome to learn "we're Italian too. We have that same passion and joy for life."

Yet though city fathers want the Olympics to show off Torino, most Italians, even the Piemontesi, focus their athletic attention on a certain sport played on flat fields. "In Italy, if it isn't called soccer, it's hard to get a lot of people interested," says Roberto Grissiotto, a Torino sales manager for an auto-safety manufacturer. This, added to a general Italian nonchalance, may help explain the lukewarm start to ticket sales: some 30% of the 1 million tickets were still available a week before the torch was to be lit. The city has had to tap public utility sponsors and hold a special national lottery to make up a $77 million shortfall resulting from cost overruns and lower-than-expected government aid in the $1.4 billion operating budget. Security alone is expected to cost more than $120 million to forestall terrorism and less violent protests from antiglobalists and local environmentalists.

Still, most Torinesi think the Games will boost their city. "This is a fantastic opportunity to give Torino an international showcase," says Grissiotto. And even sophisticated Italians may decide to join the party if native athletes start to pick up gold. After winning five World Cup races so far this season, slalom specialist Giorgio Rocca could fill the giant boots of legendary skier Alberto Tomba. Carolina Kostner gives Italy its first real shot at women's figure-skating glory in years. And a strong contingent of cross-country skiers and lugers could stand on the podium.

Yet organizers admit the real newsmakers are likely to be foreign athletes. The U.S. ski team, headed by Bode Miller and Daron Rahlves, is looking to bring home multiple medals. The injured Michelle Kwan, still chasing the only gold that's ever eluded her, will face strong challenges from teammate Sasha Cohen and Russia's Irina Slutskaya, seven-time European and twice World champion. The Scandinavians will struggle to protect their longtime hold on Nordic events from the Russian, Ukrainian and Czech skiers hot on their heels. Austrian ski great Hermann Maier will attempt to complete his miraculous comeback from a near fatal motorcycle crash in 2001 by adding to his two Olympic gold medals. German speed skater Anni Friesinger will face a strong field of U.S. and Canadian racers. Japanese ski jumpers, Korean short-track speedsters and even the British curling team are vying for a medal or two.

As for that final gold-medal match in hockey, North Americans would like to see a U.S.-Canada showdown, but Russia and the Czech Republic could crash the party. And an international crew of stoked young snowboarders, mogulers and aerialists will bring the razzmatazz of extreme sports to these Games. New to the lineup is a breakneck race called SBX (snowboard cross) that pits four to six boarders racing side-by-side along a man-made course of bumps, turns and jumps. Purists might tut-tut, but the close-cutting action should attract a fresh breed of fans who prefer wild moves and wipeouts to precision execution.

However you like your Games, it all starts to crystallize into a vivid storyline as the wind whips around the Sacra di San Michele, where our guide, Cerutti, is pointing up toward the floor of the chapel. The entire church structure, he explains, was built into a crater of the rock by master builders in medieval times. "They wanted to defy the laws of gravity," he says. In these parts, the gravity-defying feats have only just begun.