The Italian candidate won the dispute with 47 votes against 34 for Stockholm
The northern Italian cities of Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo won the right to host the 24 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games on Monday (2026), defeating the joint bid of Stockholm and Are, Sweden.
The result of the vote was announced at the headquarters of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), in Lausanne, Switzerland, after the two countries had defended their candidacies before the organization's 82 delegates.
With this, Italy will once again host the Winter Olympics exactly 20 years after the 2006 Games in Turin. The country also organized the 1956 edition, in Cortina d'Ampezzo itself.
The result of the vote was greeted with shouts of "Italy" and fulfills the Olympic dream of those who were disappointed by Rome's withdrawal from hosting the 2024 Summer Games, which will be held in Paris.
In Cortina, an Alpine village with around 6 inhabitants, the news was celebrated with the ringing of church bells and the raising of the Italian flag from a bell tower. “We are proud of this great result! Italy won.
The entire country worked united and compact with the ambition of holding and offering the world a memorable sporting event,” Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said on Twitter.
Politics
Launched in 2018, the Italian candidacy initially envisaged the participation of Turin, but political disputes with Milan made the capital of Piedmont withdraw.
The city is governed by the anti-establishment Five Star Movement (M5S), the same party that, after coming to power in Rome, abandoned the project for the Italian capital to host the 2024 Olympic Games.
The M5S is also part of the current government of Italy, in alliance with the ultranationalist League, which controls the regions of Veneto and Lombardy, where Cortina and Milan are located, respectively.
“Italy, the future and sport won. Thank you to those who believed from the beginning, and I'm sorry for those who gave up. At least 5 billion euros of added value, 20 jobs, as well as new roads and sports facilities”, celebrated the Minister of the Interior and Vice-Premier Matteo Salvini, secretary of the League.
Project
The Italian candidacy bet on the dynamism of Milan and the fascination of the Dolomites, a stretch of the Alps that attracts thousands of tourists every year.
The Olympic project is estimated at 1,3 billion euros, of which 400 million will be financed by the IOC, with a projected increase of 2,3 billion euros in the country's Gross Domestic Product (GDP), according to a study by La Sapienza University , from Rome.
The events will be divided between four poles: Milan, Cortina, Valtellina and Val di Fiemme, a valley located in the Trentino-Alto Adige region, also in the Italian Alps. The opening ceremony should be at the iconic San Siro, current stadium for Inter Milan and Milan, who plan to build a new arena in the coming years.
The closing will be at the Verona Arena, the best preserved Roman amphitheater in Italy. More than 90% of the sports infrastructure already exists or will be temporary, and only one will be built from scratch, by private investors, the “PalaItalia Santa Giulia”, which will host hockey matches.
The city of Milan should host indoor events, such as hockey and skating, while the Valtellina, a Lombard valley located on the border with Switzerland, will organize the men's snowboarding and alpine skiing competitions – the women's will be in Cortina.
The “Pearl of the Dolomites” will also host curling, bobsled, bobsled and skeleton matches. Trentino-Alto Adige will host biathlon, speed skating and cross-country skiing competitions. Athletes and coaches will stay in six Olympic villages, located no more than 20 minutes from the competition venues.
The 2026 Games will also seek environmental sustainability, with a promise to recycle 100% of urban waste and 80% of packaging.
By Ansa Agency
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