RHO, Italy — There is no ice colder and harder Speed skating Ice. The precision it requires means that Olympic speed skaters have never competed for a gold medal on a makeshift indoor rink – until… Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Games.
In their quest for maximum glide and minimum friction, Olympic officials brought in ice master Mark Messer, a veteran of six previous Olympic speed skating tracks and the ice technician responsible for the Olympic Oval track in Calgary, Canada — one of the fastest tracks in the world with more than 300 world records.
Messer has used this experience working on a thin layer of ice at a time since the end of October at the new speed skating arena, built inside the adjacent trade fair halls in the city of Rho, north of Milan.
“It’s one of the biggest challenges I’ve ever faced in snowmaking,” Messer said during an interview less than two weeks after the operation began.
If a moderate were a fast skater, the hockey ice would be medium hard, for fast puck movement and sharp turns. The ice for figure skating will be softer, allowing for propulsion for jumps and so the ice does not break when landing. The wavy ice is the smoothest and warmest ever, for controlled sliding.
For speed skating to be a good fit, it must be rough, cold, and clean. And very smooth.
“The blades are so sharp that if there is some dirt, the blade will lose its edge,” and the skater will lose speed, Messer said.
Speed skater Enrico Fabrice, who won two Olympic gold medals in Turin in 2006, has swapped his skates to become deputy sports director at the speed skating venue in Rho. For him, perfect ice means conditions are the same for all skaters – and if the ice is fast, so much the better.
“It’s a pleasure to skate on this ice,” he said.
Messer’s first Olympics were held in Calgary in 1988, the first time speed skating was held indoors. “That gave us some advantages because we didn’t have to worry about the weather, the wind or the rain,” he said. Now he is upping the ante by becoming the first ice master to build a temporary rink for the Olympic Games.
Before Messer arrived in Italy, workers spent weeks preparing insulation to level the floor, then a network of pipes and rubber tubes that carry glycol — an antifreeze — that is lowered to -7 or -8 degrees Celsius (17.6 to 19.4 degrees Fahrenheit) to make the ice.
The water is passed through a purification system, but it cannot be too pure, otherwise the ice that forms will be too fragile. The right amount of impurities “keeps the ice consistent,” Messer said.
The first layers of water are applied slowly using a spray nozzle. After the snow reaches a few centimeters, it is painted white – a full day’s work – and lines are added to make the paths.
“The first one takes about 45 minutes. And then once it freezes, we go back and do it again, over and over again. So we do it hundreds of times,” Messer said.
As the ice becomes thicker and more stable, workers apply subsequent layers of water using hoses. Messer attaches his proboscis to hockey sticks to facilitate deployment.
What should absolutely be avoided is dirt, dust or frost – all of these can cause friction for skiers, slowing them down. The goal is that when skaters push “they can go as far as possible with the least amount of effort,” Messer said.
The Zamboni ice resurfacing machine plays a key role in keeping the track clean, cutting through the layer and spraying water to create a new surface.
One challenge is measuring how quickly the water generated by the resurfacing machine freezes in the temporary rink.
The other way is to get the ice the right thickness so that the six-ton Zamboni doesn’t change the insulation, rubber piping or the ice itself.
“When you kick that out, if anything is moving it’s going to move. We don’t want that,” Messer said.
The rink got its first big test on November 29-30 during the Junior World Cup event. In the permanent rink, test events are usually held a year before the Olympic Games, leaving more time to make adjustments. “We have a very small window to learn,” Messer admitted.
Dutch speed skater Caio Vos, who won the men’s junior 1,000m, said the ice was a bit soft – but Messer didn’t seem too worried.
“We started very modestly, and now we can start changing the temperatures and try to make it faster while keeping it as safe ice,” he said.
The air temperature, humidity and ice temperature must be adjusted systematically, taking into account that there will be 6,000 spectators at the venue for each event. The next real test will be on January 31, when the Olympians take to the ice for their first training session.
“80% of the work is done but the hardest part is the last 20%, where we have to try to find the values and the way to operate the equipment so that all the skiers get the same conditions and all the skiers get the best conditions,” Messer said.
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AP Winter Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics