Thousands of kilometers from the site of the Winter Olympic Games next year in Milan Cortina, the Italian delegation met representatives of the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee of the Italian Consulate in New York to strengthen the excitation for the 2026 games.
After stops in Munich and Paris earlier this year, New York was the only American stop on the roadshow. The meeting was an opportunity to further strengthen the link between the United States and Italy during the accumulation of winter games. The event was organized by Milan Cortina Foundation (officially, the Fondazione Milano Cortina 2026) in collaboration with the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and several other Italian directors.
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The Olympic Jean Cortina and Winter Jeandes are scheduled from February 6 to 22, 2026 and from March 6 to 15, 2026.
Before taking advantage of prosciutto and prosecco, the institutional representatives and the key characters of the two countries stressed the opportunity for these games to represent not only sport at its highest level, but also unprecedented logistics coordination.
This coordination will be essential at the 2026 winter games while Milan and Cortina will become the first cities with officially co-organization of the Olympic Games. All events will take place in northern Italy in three main regions: Lombardy, Veneto and Trentino-Alto Adige.
“Sports lights around the world will be in our cities, and we will show how sport can be an engine of sustainable development, economic growth and social inclusion”, vice-president and advisor for the budget and finance of the Lombardy region Marco in pairs said.
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Although 2026 winter games have unique logistical challenges, Italy is not unrelated to the reception of the Olympic Games. The Milan Cortina 2026 Olympic Games will mark the fourth time that Italy will host the Games. Italy housed the winter games twice before – in Cortina in 1956 and Torino in 2006 – and organized the summer games in Rome in 1960.
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It will be the second time that Italy will host the Paralympic Winter Games (Torino 2006) and its third time welcoming the Paralympic Games as a whole. Italy was the host of the very first paralympic games in Rome in 1960.
“It is an honor for us to welcome, here in New York, The International Roadshow, which is not only a window on what will be the main world event of next year, but something bigger,” said the Italian consul general in New York, Fabrizio di Michele said. “I do not want to appear rhetorical, but the Olympic and Paralympic Games of Milano Cortina 2026 will carry a message of peace, equality, internationality and living room.
The Italian delegation also included Andrea VarnierCEO of Milan Cortina and Fondazione and Nicola PolitoCOO of Trentin Marketing.
The American Olympic and Paralympic Movement was represented by the president of the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee Gene Sykeswith Sarah Hughes And Declan farmer. Hughes won a gold medal in figure skating at the Salt Lake City Olympic Games in 2002 and farmer is a paralympic champion in sled hockey. Italian-American journalist Mario Platero moderate the panel.
There have been many changes since the last time Italy has organized winter matches. In Torino in 2006, 2,508 athletes participated in 84 events in seven different sports. In 2026, around 2,900 athletes should participate in 116 events in 16 sports, against 109 events in 15 sports in the 2024 Beijing matches.
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There will be a new sport at the winter games of 2026 – ski mountaineneering – and eight new events through ski mountaineering, free skiing, sledding, ski jump and skeleton.
Paralympic games have also developed since the last organization of Italy. In 2006, 474 para-athletes challenged 58 medal events in five sports.
At the Jean Cortina Paralympic 2026, there will be 79 events in six sports, against 78 events in six sports in Beijing. There will be a new event: mixed doubles in curling in a wheelchair. About 665 athletes should compete from around 50 delegations.
Polito (of Trentin Marketing) explained which makes the region of Trentin only positioned to organize some of these events.
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The American winter Olympic team is responsible for new stars and legends back in the Milan Cortina Games.
“Trentin is a paradise for sports enthusiasts,” said Polito. “Sport is part of the culture of our region, supported by excellent facilities and a strong organization. In Trentin, sport is a way of life, which is practiced all year round, whether climbing, hiking or cycling, everyone can find their favorite activity here. Now we are very happy to have the opportunity to organize ski and ski ski and para with skiing and para.
The enthusiasm for the games is already being built. According to Varnier, more than half of the tickets for the Olympic Games have been sold, and the United States is third among the nations with the greatest number of tickets purchased. Varnier added that they had received volunteer requests from more than 100,000 people, many of whom are from the United States.
With the American stop, the international roadshow will go to Tokyo, Oslo, Stockholm, Seoul and Beijing in the coming months to continue to spread enthusiasm for the Milan Cortina 2026 Olympic Games.
“These games will be a sustainability model and at the same time, they will leave a lasting heritage for future generations,” said Alparone. “The region of Lombardy and Italy are ready to welcome the world with passion and professionalism.”
