"Ladies and gentlemen! The women's preliminary Group B match between Italy and France will get under way in five minutes! And the question is: Are! You! Ready! For! Hockey?! Well, quite. That had been the question for the last five months, as it happens, ever since it first became obvious that construction of Milan's new Santagiulia arena was running massively behind schedule."
"At the test event last month the ice was grey because there was so much building dust in it, and midway through the match a man had to come on to the rink to repair a melted patch with a watering can. So what was the answer at last? Well, it depends on how you define ready. As the International Olympic Committee's executive director for the games, Christophe Dubi, admitted a couple of days ago:"
"There were a lot of half-built concession desks and dangling wires, the construction dust was so thick that shoes left treads on the concrete, and some of the water pipes were leaking into the press room. But they had an ice sheet, 12,000 or so full seats, and someone even turned up with a bucket to catch the drips, which, when it comes down to it, was really all they needed."
Construction of Milan's Santagiulia arena ran massively behind schedule, creating uncertainty about readiness. A test event produced grey, dusty ice and required on-ice patch repairs with a watering can. The International Olympic Committee acknowledged that not every space in the venue was finished. Spectator approaches remained in an underdeveloped area awaiting reconstruction. Concession desks were half-built, wires dangled, and construction dust left shoe treads on concrete. Water pipes leaked into the press room, and staff used buckets to catch drips. The venue nevertheless provided an ice sheet and roughly 12,000 seats, with temporary fixes enabling the match to proceed.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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