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2026 Winter Olympics: Ciao Italy

2026 Winter Olympics: Ciao Italy

Milan and Cortina won the bid on the 2026 Winter Olympic Games, bringing back memories of the Cortina Olympics held in 1956 and Turin Olympics in 2006. The effects on tourism and, more generally, on the country’s economy are already being announced for the games coming up in 2026 which will be held in the cities of Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo.

The victory “weighed over 80% of popular consensus, compared to 55% in Sweden” explained Thomas Bach, president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC). According to a recent study by the Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, the expenses and investments activated by the Olympic Games will amount to 1 billion and 123 million euros for the Veneto region and the autonomous provinces of Trento and Bolzano.

According to the intentions of the organizers,  Olympics 2026 will be low-cost, carried out using mostly existing structures with (almost) zero impact on the territory. In particular, a study commissioned by the government at the Sapienza University of Rome estimates the total cost of the organization at 1.9 billion euros. In detail, the largest part is destined for the overall management of the event: 1.17 billion euros.

Added to these are security costs (the forecast is for 415 million euros), while infrastructure investments should amount to 346 million.

The total billions of monetary impact on the Italian GDP in the period from 2020 to 2028 will be 2.3 with a peak in from 2025 of 350 million per year.

According to the Milan Bocconi University, the number of jobs generated in the various stages of the Games is more than 22,300 of which 13,800 will be in Veneto, Trento, and Bolzano, plus 8,500 in Lombardy.

The President of the Council, Giuseppe Conte, announced a Cortina effect on the economy: “The Olympics represent a great opportunity for sporting, social, and economic growth, the possibility of increasing tourism, of improving our infrastructural system to grow better in a sustainable way.”

There are already those who thinking about how to intervene to improve services. The province of Sondrio – with the Valtellina that will host the races on the Bormio (men’s alpine ski) and Livigno (snowboard and freestyle) slopes – intends to be more easily and quickly reached within 7 years.

Today, the 200 km that separate Milan from Bormio is covered in about 3 hours by car, while the train reaches only Tirano (2 hours and 40 minutes) and the last 40 km require a further bus route. Livigno is even further away from the Lombard capital and needs at least another half an hour to get there.

How Milan will change

The most important works on infrastructures and sports facilities are planned for the organization of the Milan-Cortina Winter Games 2026.

At the news of the victory of the 2026 Winter Olympics, Milan started working for the best outcome of the organization of this very important event. The plan is aimed at rethinking the sports facilities and infrastructures of Milan to better accommodate large sports events animated by athletes, fans, and visitors from around the world.

Here are the most important projects that will change the face of the city given Milan-Cortina 2026:

PalaItalia

Perhaps one of the most ambitious is the construction of PalaItalia in the Santa Giulia district on the southeastern outskirts of the city.

The 15,000-seat arena is a private structure that is part of a larger redevelopment project called Montecity-Rogoredo. The start of works is scheduled for January 2021 with completion in December 2023. It will cost 70 million euros.

The Olympic Village

Still, on the southern outskirts of the city, the construction of the Olympic Village will have great impact: 1,260 beds with 70 single rooms and 630 double rooms on 19 hectares of land. The start of the construction site is scheduled for June 2022 and should be completed 8 months before the opening of the Games. Its final destination will become a huge residential campus for students.

2026 Olympics, how Milan changes: All the works

Palasharp, an abandoned redevelopment project that has been abandoned for the past 8 years, will become the Milan Hockey Arena. The works are scheduled to start on December 2020, and the plant to open in October 2021.

Mediolanum Forum di Assago

The Mediolanum Forum of Assago should be expanded by 2026 to accommodate figure skating and the short track. With the appropriate modifications, the plant can be up to Olympic parameters on the same insurance as the IOC technicians.

Allianz Cloud

The works at the Ex Palalido, now Allianz Cloud, will end in 2020 and will return a multi-purpose and modular structure ready to host more than 5,000 spectators for the competitions of different Olympic sports.

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