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Turin promises 'spectacular' Games
 Castelliani says the Turin Games will be characterized by Italian style. YOUR E-MAIL ALERTS(CNN) -- Turin is ready to host the 2006 Winter Olympics and is set to deliver a spectacular display of "Italian style,"according to the head of the Games' organizing committee. With 100 days to go until the opening ceremony on Feb. 10, Valentino Castelliani, president of the Torino 2006 Organizing Committee (TOROC), was in New York on Wednesday to promote the Olympic Truce Resolution, which will be presented to the United Nations' General Assembly on Thursday. "I'm very glad to say that we are ready," Castelliani told CNN. "We had our final examination by the IOC last week and they said we were ready. They have a lot of confidence and trust in us. All the venues are completed and we will be inside each site by the middle of December to complete final preparations." Many Olympic events, including figure skating and ice hockey, will take place in purpose-built arenas in Turin itself, while skiing events will be hosted by the nearby Alpine resorts of Sestriere and Pragelato. Admitting that Italy was a "last-minute country," Castelliani said that work at many building sites beyond the main Olympic venues was ongoing -- but said all construction work was due to be completed before the New Year. "There is a lot of work going on that is not strictly related to the Games. But everything is planned to stop by the end of the year." Preparations for the Games have also been overshadowed by a dispute over doping regulations. Under Italy's tough anti-drugs legislation, the use of banned substances in sport is also a criminal offence. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) argues that competitors who cheat should only face sporting sanctions, and is calling for Italy to relax its laws on doping for the duration of the Games. But Castelliani said that both the Italian government and the IOC were committed to fighting doping, and told CNN he expected an agreement on doping regulations to be reached ahead of the Games. "The drug problem is a priority for all of us -- there is no doubt that doping is a terrible problem in sport," he said. "The difference is that under Italian legislation doping is also criminally prosecuted whereas the position of the IOC and other countries around the world is that there should only be sporting sanctions. It's not a different attitude to doping; it's just a different way of handling it. He also dismissed suggestions that some athletes could be dissuaded from traveling to Italy over concerns they could be arrested if suspected of doping. "If athletes don't come to Italy because they're worried about being arrested that's an implicit acknowledgement that they are using drugs," he said. Castelliani said that expectations for the Games were high in Turin, with more than 40,000 people responding to a call for 20,000 local volunteers. "We will deliver a spectacular Italian Games, a Mediterranean Games. We have a motto, which is 'Passion Lives Here.' Now we are going to switch on that passion," he said. "We are preparing an opening ceremony that will be a spectacular experience of Italian style, beauty and culture. This is the signature of each edition of the Games. Sport is core but the Olympics are also a cultural experience." 
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