FIS secretary general Sarah Lewis made the claim following the conclusion of the fourth Coordination Group meeting in the host town.

The first part of the visit focused on the key technical aspects at the competition venue, involving the re-modelling of the courses, particularly the new common finish area for both speed courses.

Elena Gaja, chair of the FIS Alpine Courses Sub-Committee, joined the inspection with the official homologation scheduled for later this year in order to be ready to host the Italian Championships in March 2019.

The slalom hill using the Druscie course will be widened, as was the case for the 1956 Winter Olympics in Cortina d’Ampezzo, while the finish area is being renovated more than 60 years on from the Games. 

Additionally, the planning of the operational infrastructure in the competition venue is said to be well under way, while the road leading up to the competition venue is being widened and re-routed to accommodate the new finish area and facilities.

Down in the town, the location for the broadcast, media and volunteers centre has been identified as the Ice Centre.

The evening medal ceremonies, meanwhile, will be held in the centre of Cortina.

After the site visits, a plenary meeting was held.

This primarily dealt with organisational aspects of the 2021 Alpine World Ski Championships, presented by the respective responsible persons within the Organising Committee.

"The FIS Coordination Group is extremely impressed with the progress in Cortina both during the venue and course inspections and the operational and plenary meetings," Lewis said.

"The fully-integrated participation by the Cortina Community and authorities throughout our visit and the strong spirit within the group shows the commitment of the town and indeed the region to present a memorable FIS Alpine World Ski Championships 2021 in Cortina and Italy to the world."

The delegation was welcomed by Valerio Giacobbi, recently appointed as chief executive of the Local Organising Committee.

It included technical and administrative staff from the FIS, led by Lewis, as well as representatives of the Italian Ski Federation (FISI), led by new secretary general Loretta Piroia and Alpine skiing director Massimo Rinaldi.

Also present were representatives of commercial and broadcast rights holders, Infront Sports and Media, and its host broadcaster RAI.

The Mayor of Cortina, Gianpietro Ghedina, participated in the different sessions along with representatives of the Cortina Community and authorities, including the ski lift companies, State Police and regional business industry.

"We very much appreciated the constructive discussions and input from FIS, FISI and Infront throughout these two days," Giacobbi said.

"The level of discussion in important details with expert advice is highly appreciated and we have a strong feeling of strong support from all stakeholders for Cortina 2021."