Inside Italy's abandoned Winter Olympic sites from 2006 as new pictures emerge
A group of explorers were left "shocked" after they visited and documented some of the abandoned sites from the Torino 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin.
Two decades ago, Italy played host to the 20th Winter Olympic Games, with the competition venues being mostly spread between seven villages located in the mountainous Piedmont region of Turin.
Cesana Pariol was one of the venues and hosted a number of events, including bobsleigh, luge and skeleton.
The track, which is located in Cesana Torinese, was said to hold approximately 7,130 spectators and was constructed with around 54 miles of ammonia refrigeration pipes. However, the area is now dormant.
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After the 2011 World Luge Championships, the sliding centre at Cesana Pariol was closed due to a lack of funds, according to the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
The IOC reported in 2020 that twelve out of the 14 venues used for Torino 2006 were still being used to host "multiple" sports and cultural events, while the sliding centre and ski jumping site were "facing challenges".
The Pragelato ski jumping site, pictured by explorers Broken Window Theory in their viral Reddit post (as seen below), was used for sport and recreational activities, while the two larger hills used for the Olympic competitions were no longer in use.
The official IOC website added: "The Plans to dismantle and re-purpose them have not yet been realised."
So, what do the venues look like now? As mentioned above, experienced explorers Broken Window Theory visited the Pragelato site, as well as Cesana Pariol, and posted their findings on Reddit.
Alongside nine pictures, they captioned the post: "While everyone's watching the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Games, we went to the part nobody broadcasts: the abandoned venues that were left behind.
"These photos are from two abandoned sites of Torino 2006: Cesana Pariol (ice track for bobsleigh, luge & skeleton), and Pragelato (the ski jump stadium). What shocked us: parts of it are still in surprisingly good shape, even after nearly 20 years. And yet, they didn't reuse these sites."
Back in January, the IOC produced a report on how the Torino 2006 Olympic Winter Games helped reshape the city.
“The Torino 2006 Olympic Winter Games helped accelerate change, deliver long-term initiatives, and reshape how Turin sees itself and is seen by the world,” said Arram Kim, IOC Head of Olympic Games Impact and Legacy.
Jack Kenmare