Turin races towards Winter Games
(Reuters)
Updated: 2005-12-21 15:18

Officials of the organising committee, TOROC, said the airy, curving lounge and athletes' centre along the ski jumping track were designed to blend in with the surrounding rocks and trees.

Environmentalists still find the whole venue an eyesore, arguing that untouched habitat was destroyed and that the ski jumping hills and the bobsleigh track will hardly be used after the Games.

Other aspects of the Games find more favour with the green lobby. TOROC has worked closely with the United Nations Environment Programme to draw up a plan for a "green" Olympics.

This includes offsetting all carbon dioxide emissions -- seen as the cause of global warming -- produced during the Games by cutting down on such pollution elsewhere.

"The Winter Olympics and climate change are closely linked. The future of the Olympics depends also on the climate," Ugo Pretato, head of TOROC's environmental programme, told reporters.