sports
February 6, 2026
Financial savings and venue scandals: 2026 Winter Olympics set to start in Italy
The International Olympic Committee as well as the organizers of this event in Italy thus decided to move away from the practice when the Olympics were hosted by a region in which the entire infrastructure had to be built from scratch
TL;DR
- The 2026 Winter Olympics are held in Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, the first Games hosted in two cities.
- 90% of competitions will use existing venues, with the Santa Julia Arena being a new exception for ice hockey.
- The Opening Ceremony is in Milan's San Siro stadium, while the Closing Ceremony will be in Verona.
- Organizers aim for cost savings by not building entirely new infrastructure, unlike the Sochi 2014 Games.
- Financial problems have arisen, partly due to funds allocated to combat the Coronavirus pandemic.
- Construction of a luge track in Cortina d'Ampezzo faced environmental criticism and questions about its future use.
- Concerns were raised about the ice quality in the new ice hockey arena, impacting NHL player participation.
- New events include parallel moguls, women's two-man luge, women's ski jumping, mixed skeleton, and Ski Mountaineering.
- Many Russian athletes cannot compete due to qualification difficulties and IOC rulings, leading to the Russian ice hockey team missing the Games.
- Italy previously hosted the Winter Games in Cortina d'Ampezzo (1956), Rome (1960), and Turin (2006).
Continue reading the original article