ROME - The debate about whether to call the Winter Games host city by its Anglicized name, Turin, or its Italian name, Torino, has been a hot topic of discussion lately in the United States.

In Italy, though, there is more discussion about how to refer to the games’ Alpine towns. Is it Sauze d’Oulx or Salice d’Ulzio? Sestriere or Sestrieres with an “s” on the end?

Towns with French and German names across all of northern Italy had their names Italianized in the Fascist era after World War I.

Sauze d’Oulx became Salice d’Ulzio and Sestrieres had its French-sounding “s” cut off in 1935. Salice eventually reverted to its original name of Sauze, while Sestriere kept the “s” off.

The towns now officially are called Sauze d’Oulx and Sestriere. But there are still many people who get it wrong.

“People here call it Sauze and people from outside call it Salice, erroneously,” said Maddalena Marcuzzi of Sauze’s Chamber of Commerce.

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Marcuzzi said Sauze comes from the dialect Patois, a mixture of French and Piemontese.

Making things more complicated in Sestriere is the fact that the company that runs the town’s ski area is called Sestrieres, with the final “s.”

Sestriere will host Alpine skiing and Sauze will be the site for freestyle skiing during the games.

No 'Snow Leopard'
It doesn’t look like Ghana’s “Snow Leopard” is going to make it to Turin. But a couple of other African skiers and Hubertus Von Hohenlohe of Mexico should make it.

The Snow Leopard — 31-year-old Kwame Nkrumah-Acheampong — did not gather enough qualifying points in time for Monday’s deadline.

Skiers from countries without a top-500 skier have to gather points from the International Ski Federation to qualify. Athletes start with 1,000 points and must get down to 140 for slalom and giant slalom and 120 for downhill and super-G.

Nkrumah-Acheampong had 220 points, FIS rules specialist Sonja Reichen said.

Nkrumah-Acheampong’s supporters were looking into the possibility of a wild card, but FIS says that is impossible.

“There are no wild cards for the Olympics,” Reichen said. “Unfortunately, there is no way for him now. He will have to improve if he wants to compete in future major events.”

Cristiana Tomasini, who works with Nkrumah-Acheampong at his training ground in Val di Fiemme, said they were still hoping for some sort of break.

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“There still may be a possibility, but it’s very small, we have to be realistic,” she said. “It’s too bad for everyone that was doing their all to make this happen.”

Senegal’s Leyti Seck has qualified for slalom, giant slalom and super-G and South Africa’s Alexander Heath in all four disciplines, Reichen said, adding that the final decision will be up to Olympic organizers and the skiers’ national Olympic committees.

Von Hohenlohe, a descendant of a dethroned royal family from a former principality that is now part of Germany, looks “likely” to have qualified for super-G, Reichen said.

Also, Marino Cardelli of the tiny republic of San Marino — nestled in central Italy — qualified in slalom.

Reichen said her office was still crunching numbers and the official list would not be published until Feb. 6.

“It’s a very complicated process,” she said.