Winter sports season excitement highlighted as Milano Cortina 2026 preparations accelerate
As athletes across the world turn their attention to qualification, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Coordination Commission for the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026 gathered in the Veneto region to discuss preparations to host the best winter sports athletes in Northern Italy in less than two years’ time.
As the majority of venues are existing or temporary, the Commission had the opportunity to visit some of those that will welcome the world’s top athletes in Cortina d’Ampezzo in 2026. This included the iconic Olympia delle Tofane, which will host the women’s Alpine skiing, as well as Para skiing and snowboarding; and the Cortina Olympic Stadium, an iconic venue from the 1956 Games where the Olympic curling and Paralympic wheelchair curling competitions will take place at the Milano Cortina 2026 Games.
Just last month, these two venues hosted, respectively, the town’s traditional skiing Women’s World Cup and a curling world tour event that included local hero and Olympic champion Stefania Constantini, providing a glimpse into the excitement and anticipation surrounding the upcoming Games. The yearly Biathlon World Cup in Antholz/Anterselva nearby was also held in January, at the same venue that will host the sport at Milano Cortina 2026. These events offered yet another demonstration of the project’s alignment with the Olympic Agenda 2020 recommendations to make the most of existing venues and expertise.
The existing expertise will be leveraged by the Organising Committee through the recent key partnership agreements with locally based Event Delivery Entities that have successfully organised some of these competitions over many years. They include the Cortina Foundation, the Antholz/Anterselva Biathlon World Cup Committee, the Val di Fiemme Nordic Ski Committee and the Bormio Foundation. After meeting most of these organisations during the visit, the Commission noted that these collaborations will formally put all this experience in hosting top-tier international sporting events at the service of the Games.
Source: IOC News
Photo: © Milano-Cortina 2026
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