In just under two months the Olympic flame will arrive in the northwestern Italian city of Torino for the 20th Winter Games.

Although the city faces a race to be ready for the February 10-26 showcase following the International Olympic Committee's (IOC) final inspection, preparations have already begun to slide into place.

While Torino's streets and squares still resemble a vast construction site, with the mountain venues at Sestriere, Pragelato and Cesana filled with building equipment, work on the main structures has been finished.

IOC president Jacques Rogge expressed confidence that everything would be completed to a high standard before the Games get underway.

"Much work remains to be done in and around Torino with the Games fast approaching," said Rogge after the final inspection earlier this month.

"But I'm confident that, working as a team, all those involved will complete the final preparations to the very high standard of all that has been achieved so far."

While compared to Athens' last-minute race for the 2004 summer Olympics, progress seems to be well in hand after the appointment of a new management team.

To win the Games, Torino promised nearly $US2.5 billion ($A3.42 billion) in improvements that organisers say are almost complete. They include newly-constructed arenas for ice hockey, figure skating, and speed skating, three Olympic villages, and an overhaul of the stadium where the ceremonies will be held.

Roads to the Alpine venues have been upgraded, the city's historic centre improved, and local authorities are set to open the first line of a new metro system in late December. The system will not however be completed until 2008.

But the building of a high-speed rail link between Lyon in France and Torino brought out 30,000 demonstrators into the streets this month. The proposed 53-kilometre (33-mile) cross-border train tunnel linking Italy with France has stirred the anger of some Italians living in the region who question the usefulness, cost and environmental consequences of the project.

Opposition to the rail link has cast a shadow over preparations with fears that access routes to the games' sites could be blocked.

In addition, haggling is still ongoing over funds.

The Games are facing a $US77 million ($A105.34 million) budget shortfall that could force organisers to make cutbacks.

Italy's draft budget for 2006 does not include the government's final $US48 million ($A65.66 million) allocation to Olympic organisers and scrapped a scratch-card lottery game that would have produced an extra $US29 million ($A39.67 million).

"It's not easy to work like this," said Mario Pescante, the government supervisor for the games.

"We had already discussed that money, it's money that was expected."

Pescante said he was confident no cuts would be made and the funds would be allocated in a separate measure before the end of the year.

"A solution will be found," insisted Pescante. "We are not going to stop everything because we're short of 64 million euro ($A104.05 million)."

But in addition to budgetary problems other issues need addressing.

Ticket sales have been slow, and the question over anti-doping rules remain unsolved.

Under Italian law athletes caught doping face criminal charges.

To the IOC and the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) such athletes are not criminals and should be punished with suspension by their sports federations.

Meanwhile only 60 per cent of the tickets available have been sold, apart from the most popular events, such as ice hockey and figure-skating, with many remaining for the less popular sports such as luge and biathlon.

Torino Olympic Committee (TOROC) president Valentino Castellani insists sales will jump nearer the event, when national pride surfaces ahead of the Games.

Castellani said that they were looking for the event to be "a deep and strong Italian experience" highlighting their heritage. Most of the awards ceremonies will be held in the city's historic Piazza Castello, site of a baroque castle that once housed the Dukes of Savoy.

Italian design know-how has also being highlighted with unique doughnut-shaped Olympic medals stamped with images of the Piazza Castello, and an Olympic torch, sheathed in aluminum, designed by the famed Pininfarina design studio, best known for their work on Ferraris.

And with so much preparation already finished the biggest uncertainty when the 2,500 athletes arrive for the first Winter Games in Italy since Cortina d'Ampezzo in 1956 remains - who will win?

Emmeline Moore
AFP