— Published January 8, 2025

A year full of challenges for Milan-Cortina 2026

EventsInstitutions Focus

As Europe prepares to host the Winter Olympics again, after two consecutive editions in Asia, 2025 promises to be an intense year for Milan-Cortina 2026. The day of February 6 will be dedicated to festivities, exactly one year before the opening of the Games. The Olympic spirit will be celebrated in all corners of Italy, in order to mobilize local communities and recall the universal values ​​of sport. All schools in the country are thus called upon to participate in the second edition of the Winter Games Week, from February 3 to 7, to promote the practice of sport and spread the values ​​of the Games. Enough to cultivate the support of Italians and make the event a little more concrete. This will also involve the revelation of the design of the torch on April 14, that of the medals on June 23, and the inevitable arrival of the Olympic flame in Rome at the beginning of December. Beyond the symbols, the next thirteen months promise great challenges for the organizers.

Work in progress

While most athletes are going through the test event stage, this winter is also punctuated by work on the venues. At the forefront, the construction site of the Cortina d'Ampezzo sliding track, intended for bobsleigh, luge and skeleton events. Two thirds of the work has been completed and the project managers are aiming for pre-approval of the track by the end of March 2025, which would allow the first tests with athletes to be carried out at that time. However, concerns remain given the deadlines. "Lake Placid is our official Plan B, but only in case we can't get to Cortina, a scenario ruled out by the reassuring information that continues to arrive" on the progress of the work, responded the COJO, determined to avoid the affront of a relocation to the other side of the Atlantic.

The San Siro stadium, scene of the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games, is due to undergo a slight facelift but to date no date has been set for the start of this work according to La Repubblica. The sidewalks and the public transport network are also getting a makeover. 48 new elevators and 52 new escalators will be installed on metro line 3 alone. However, meeting deadlines is expected to be tighter for some roadworks, such as the third track of the Manzoni bridge in Lecco and the consolidation of the Monte Piazzo tunnel, which must be completed by January 2026.

Operation seduction

The success of the Games will also depend in the coming months on the smooth running of the online ticketing system, which will open on 6 February for the first phase of sales. The Organising Committee is obviously expecting a lot from it: the revenue generated by ticket sales is an essential source of funding for the OCOG. The latter also hopes to attract larger budgets with its hospitality programmes including tickets, accommodation and privileged access. The marketing team will therefore not be idle.

The communication campaign for Milan-Cortina 2026 will logically accelerate, both nationally and internationally, to captivate the public and attract visitors from all over the world. A work also dedicated to convincing new partners to meet the financial objectives. "We have set ourselves a domestic partnership budget of 525 million euros, which is a significant amount for a market like Italy", explained Andrea Varnier, CEO of the organizing committee, in May 2023. The last partnership announced by the OCOG dates back to November, with Technogym. There are thirteen months left to add a few more covers!