By Elvira Pollina MILAN (Reuters) -Italy began the one-year countdown to the Winter Olympics on Thursday with a series of events designed to fuel enthusiasm for the Games that will be co-hosted by Milan and the Alpine town of Cortina d'Ampezzo.

The one-year countdown to the Milan Cortina Olympic Games is on. International Olympics Committee president Thomas Bach has proudly declared “Italy is ready.”

In Sochi, workers were still hammering away in the media village and shower water ran yellow when journalists from around the world arrived for the 2014 Winter Games.