Olympic organizers see the Stelvio as a postcard for Italian alpine tradition. The men who will hurl themselves down it this weekend are more likely to call it what former US racer Steve Porino does: "the gray ribbon of death." The men's downhill at the Milan Cortina Games will unfold on Bormio's Stelvio run, a 2.1-mile track that drops from 7,398 feet to 4,085 feet and has long been one of the World Cup's most intimidating venues, the Wall Street Journal reports. The danger is not theoretical.
The course opens with Turbo Road, a near-vertical plunge, then forces skiers over what Porino describes as an "ice rink" from top to bottom. Athletes regularly top 90mph before being launched off a final jump that can send them about 150 feet through the air. Just over a year ago, French medal hopeful Cyprien Sarrazin crashed there in training, suffering a brain injury that required emergency surgery and effectively ending his 2026 Olympic dream. The accident prompted teammate Nils Allègre to say the venue shouldn't be used for the Games. Other veterans, including former US racer Marco Sullivan—who once slammed his head on the Stelvio's ice—say it is the only course that truly frightened them.
What sets Stelvio apart, racers say, is its relentlessness: There is no stretch to relax, tuck, and recover. Legs "stump out," as former World Cup winner Daron Rahlves puts it, and collapses are common. The race could well hinge on who can hold form after roughly 80 seconds of punishment, when the finish feels far away and lactic acid "up to your eyeballs," in Porino's words, encourages self-preservation over risk. For some, that high consequence is precisely what makes it an Olympic-worthy stage. "The tracks that are more treacherous, that have higher consequences, that's when you focus," Rahlves said. "It's the most alive I've ever felt." Allègre's advice, per the Athletic: "You really have to dare and accept that you cannot control everything. You need to be brave, technically very good, physically strong and a little bit crazy!"
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