ROME, Feb. 3 (Xinhua) -- The Milan-Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games is an opportunity for Italy to be the protagonist, said Giovanni Malago, President of the Fondazione Milano Cortina 2026, in an interview with Xinhua here on Monday.
February 6 marks the one-year countdown to the opening ceremony of the 2026 Olympic Winter Games. According to Malago, a very distinct characteristic about Milan-Cortina 2026's masterplan is that 90 percent of the competition venues are existing ones, and he is optimistic about the progress of new venue constructions such as the sliding center in Cortina d'Ampezzo.
Italy is a prime destination for winter sports. Cortina d'Ampezzo and Turin hosted the Winter Olympics in 1956 and 2006 respectively. On January 30, the IOC announced that Dolomiti Valtellina in the Italian Alps will host the 2028 Winter Youth Olympic Games, just days after the closing ceremony of the 2025 FISU World University Winter Games in Turin.
"Italy is surrounded by the Alps and the Dolomites in the north. We also have mountains covered in snow in central regions like Emilia-Romagna and Abruzzo, as well as in southern regions like Calabria and Sicily. Italian people have good tradition and passion for skiing," said Malago.
"Starting from the title, you can easily understand that everything is different, our new idea is 'Olympics of the territories'," said Malago, adding that although hosting the Games in different regions may increase travel distances, it ensures high organizational quality.
Milan-Cortina has seen 70 percent of registrations in the first phase of ticket sales coming from abroad. Malago commented that it showed the strong appeal of Italy to the world. "The Italian people know this is the opportunity to be protagonist, and we want to create a unique atmosphere in the Italian Alps."
Beyond successively hosting the Winter Olympic Games, China and Italy have also strengthened their cooperation in winter sports. "The relationship between Italy and China in winter sports started many years ago, and is still concrete. I spent 27 days in China during Beijing 2022, and I think the organization of Beijing 2022 was very good, especially in terms of venue quality, security, logistics, and transportation."
The 9th Asian Winter Games opens in Harbin on February 7. "Asia is a fundamental part of the world for winter sports, we need more countries to be involved in international winter sports events and Asian Winter Games provide an opportunity to do so," said Malago. ■
