By Elvira Pollina MILAN (Reuters) -Italy began the one-year countdown to the Winter Olympics on Thursday with a series of events designed to fuel enthusiasm for the Games that will be co-hosted by Milan and the Alpine town of Cortina d'Ampezzo.

The century-old sliding centre being completely rebuilt for the 2026 Olympic Winter Games is pushing the deadline so tight that the IOC has gone so far as to demand a Plan B option that would require moving bobsleigh,

Sochi’s media village was still under construction, and showers ran yellow when journalists arrived for the 2014 Winter Games. The 2016 Rio