CORTINA D'AMPEZZO, Italy — The first official test race on the controversial sliding track being rebuilt for the Milan Cortina Olympics was won by skeleton world champion Matt Weston of Britain on Friday.
Weston beat European champion Samuel Maier of Austria by 0.15 seconds after two runs in the head-first discipline down the Eugenio Monti track.
It was also the opening skeleton World Cup of the Olympic season.
Yin Zheng of China finished third, 0.18 behind, after setting the first track record at 56.79 seconds in his opening run.
Junior world champion Lukas Nydegger of Germany achieved his best World Cup result in fourth, missing the podium by 0.05.
The top American finisher was Austin Florian in 10th while Cortina native Mattia Gaspari led host Italy in 17th.
In the women's event, Jaqcueline Pfeifer claimed her first World Cup win in almost five years. The three-time World Cup overall winner was 0.23 ahead of German teammate and Olympic champion Hannah Neise.
Kim Meylemans of Belgium finished 0.32 behind in third.
A mixed team event was scheduled for later Friday, followed by bobsled races on Saturday and Sunday.
While the competitive part of the track in Cortina is ready, surrounding areas are still being constructed and no spectators were allowed in for the test event.
The International Olympic Committee didn’t want millions to be spent rebuilding the track in Cortina, which closed in 2008 due to rising maintenance costs. The IOC suggested holding sliding events for these Games in nearby Austria or Switzerland instead.
But the Italian government pushed ahead anyway and is spending 118 million euros ($136 million) remaking the venue.
The Olympics are scheduled for Feb. 6-22.
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