International Olympic Committee Executive Director Christophe Dubi spoke with NBCSports.com about preparations for the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Games, which open in 100 days.
This interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity.
OlympicTalk: How are preparations for the Games coming along?
Dubi: It’s that point in time, right, where it all comes together. There are two aspects that we’re looking into now: back of house and front of house.
Back of house is basically now the installations. So we are in that period of time where — from the physical layout to the operations — all the assets come together in the various locations. Can I say this is a stressful time? Absolutely. Anywhere it is, because this is when the plans translate into physical actions, physical goods. So we have moved from a classical planning approach to management to actually an operation.
We are really confident about the actual delivery of all of this. These guys know how to do it. If you take any of the of the points on the map — which is pretty wide, OK — from Milano, Verona, Cortina, Val di Fiemme, Bormio, Livigno — all these individually, they know how to deliver events at the top level. So there’s no issue. But between now and then, it’s all these millions of details that need to click so that we have the delivery at the level of expectation. Are we confident? Absolutely.
Now, if you turn to what is the more joyful side of it is the actual front of house. And here what is coming up is the torch relay (after the Olympic Flame is lit in Olympia, Greece, on Nov. 26). That is a serious drive for a pickup of interest in the Games, from a media standpoint, but also from the general public involvement into the Games. This is what will contribute to further exciting the Italian people to tune in.
This is also when you generally see the last pickup of tickets. It’s been a very good campaign, and now we still have to sell, I would say, a portion of the Olympic tickets, but a bigger portion of the Paralympic tickets. So, hopefully, this is something that will pick up with the arrival of the torch.
If I had to summarize, it’s to deliver this unique Olympic feeling of being in a given place at a given time, where it all happens. Except here, it’s not one given place. So we are looking now into what it will mean for athletes, fans, journalists and others to get that feeling that you are in that unique place.
It starts with a ceremony, and I think that the production of it is really ambitious. We had Paris, which was quite something. This time around, it’s different. It’s a ceremony that has a center in Milano, but it has activities in three other clusters, very unique. When it all comes together, it’s going to be amazing, I’m certain, but it’s fairly complex to deliver.
The one very important point for me is that for the first time we have the athletes (in distant venues) being able to go to the ceremony. They might elect not to, but the ceremony comes to where they are, which is very unique, right?
In many other contexts in the past, including the recent Winter Games, it wasn’t possible. The next thing for the athletes and fans, which to me is really important, is the activations in all of the clusters. How will it be to be a late afternoon, early evening in Anterselva, and the same in Livigno and the same in Cortina? And it has to be an Olympic party. In other words, what we could do in Paris center and replicate in various areas in Paris and across France. The same should be in Italy, where it all combines the hub in Milano with the spoke up there in northern Italy, but with that feeling that every night, you’re again part of something that is unique.
OlympicTalk: Can you provide any specific examples in those other three clusters in northern Italy in terms of making them special parts of the Games?
Dubi: We have ensured that in any of the locations, you have the equivalent of a live site or fan zone, whatever you call it, that can also serve as — it’s different than Paris — but sort of (like) Champions Park. So all the medals will be delivered in the venue. That was a request that was made at the time.
It’s all good, but you still have to celebrate the athletes every day. That’s what it should look like. The celebration of athletes in a festive atmosphere in any of the locations, being in front of Duomo (in Milan) or at the foot of the Dolomites.
That’s the key point that we are working on right now. How it all happens? I wouldn’t know at this stage, but the intention, spirit, is this.
OlympicTalk: For a viewer who’s not going to be in Italy, what do you think will be a highlight of this Opening Ceremony broadcast that’s going to be different and unique from past ceremonies?
Dubi: That’s in one segment in particular, which is pretty long, but it’s also where you have those national prides that kick in. It’s the athletes entering the stadium, except that here it’s the athletes entering the stadiums, or the venues — plural — because you will have a production that cuts from Milano to Cortina, Cortina to etc., for a delegation, to give that feeling that, yes, you are in Milano, but the Games span to Cortina and the rest of it. You see it through the delegation, and it’s one unique delegation that goes behind the flag.
I think this is really powerful, because when you were in the previous editions of the Games, you never had that feeling. You knew that those that were on the field of play that night were mainly the ice hockey players and the skaters. All the others in the mountains could not participate. Well this time around, it’s the full delegation, and you will recognize the faces on camera, because it will cut to all of them. Now, from a timing standpoint, it will have to be like a Swiss clock. But no reason for it not to work.
It’s going to be super dynamic because it’s going to be a constant cut from Milano back to the mountains and the reverse. For the other segments, I’ve seen them. I think it’s absolutely really beautiful, elegant, anything you would imagine from them.
One highlight for me this time around was to discover the Closing Ceremony. We are in Verona Arena (a Roman amphitheater built in 30 AD). So to start with, it’s quite a unique background. It’s a very small venue, but historic background. It’s been a long time where — and it’s no criticism to the past — but where you have a Closing Ceremony with an amazing artistic segment.
As we say in French, deux salles, deux ambiances. Two different rooms, two different atmospheres, but always with something unique to offer.
OlympicTalk: This whole ceremony concept has gotten me thinking about Los Angeles 2028, given the softball and canoe slalom in Oklahoma City. Do you see any part of this whole Milan Cortina arrangement — Opening Ceremony, cluster activations, otherwise, as a blueprint for LA 2028 in any way?
Dubi: I’ve said a lot of times to our friends in Italy, and I repeat it to the teams here as well. We have a lot at stake in those Games here, for many reasons. One, it’s still based on Agenda 2020, where there was this, I think, punchy tagline: the Games adapt to a region, and not the reverse. How does this translate now, operationally and from a spirit standpoint?
So it’s important for LA, for Brisbane (2032) that has three clusters, and it’s important for Alps France (2030) and potentially Switzerland (could host 2038 Winter Games).
We need these combinations of everything we described to work, because even in Paris, the athletes in Marseille (for sailing, soccer) were not part of the ceremony. The athletes in Lille (basketball) were not part of the ceremony. The athletes in Tahiti (surfing) were slightly different. There was the little thing on the beach that was nice.
But still, if that (Milan Cortina Opening Ceremony) works, then you’re right. Oklahoma City, or the soccer players in the various other places can be part of it.
OlympicTalk: The test event in December for the main Milan hockey arena — Santagiulia — has been moved to a different arena. What is the status of the preparations of that main arena, and are there any concerns?
Dubi: We knew from day one that it would be tight. The construction started late. Now the test event, as it was scheduled for the junior worlds, has been moved to a venue we had to test as well, because (the second hockey arena) has to be tested. So don’t have any hard feeling on that. We need to test the ice in Rho as well being for the ice rink and for the 400 meters (oval for speed skating).
The testing that is now scheduled in early January in Santagiulia is the next big thing. Because you don’t have the same format for the test event. You still need to test three matches a day with spectators. That’s how you guarantee that quality of ice, heat, humidity and everything else is properly managed. So that’s what we have replaced the test event in December by testing, if you wish, in January. But it’s still incredibly important that this can be done.
One thing, though, that has evolved over time, and for the better: the simulations now, including with AI — because why not use the buzzword — but when you’re simulating conditions into any venue, and this is something we had to do for Lille (for Paris 2024 basketball) as well, which we could not test, by the way, with spectators, but they were absolutely spot on in terms of temperature, humidity, with simulation about spectators, and especially the moisture on the floor, which for basketball, is absolutely critical, right? Everything they had simulated was delivered exactly to the point. So I would hope that all the simulation we have for Santagiulia are of equal quality. But I would be fully reassured personally when this has been tested with actual players and spectators.
OlympicTalk: For you, personally, is there a specific competition venue among the four clusters that is really going to stand out as a star of these Games?
Dubi: Two areas in the mountains — and not that the others are not good — are very, very special and Santagiulia. I think Santagiulia is quite stunning from outside and will be very special inside. It should be rocking, knowing we have NHL players and a level of women’s ice hockey that is really, really good now.
For two different reasons, we have Livigno and Cortina. Cortina because you don’t have any backdrop that is more spectacular than Tofane. Yes, every year they have a World Cup, but it’s not the same impact we are on the massive Games stage. People will discover Cortina as something absolutely stunning from a landscape standpoint.
The other one is Livigno for a different reason. This is a very narrow, cold winter-ish valley, where you will have all the cool kids (including freestyle skiers and snowboarders). Not that the others are not, but this is a way to speak, right? But the concentration in this narrow valley between the left and the right side, in what is hard winter conditions, it’s difficult to access. You have one road. If it’s closed, it’s total chaos. But it’s dramatic. And I think when people see the temperature, the proximity of action in that little village there, it’s a reveal to the world.
I’ve been there several times myself. I love it. I think it’s an absolutely brilliant place, if you like winter sports, and by the way, mountains, it’s going to be a reveal to the world.
The other ones — Bormio will be special, because the Stelvio is quite an engaging course. The landscape is more traditional, but it’s a very engaging course. And Val di Fiemme is also known in the Nordic skiing community. So it will be great as well. But the two stunning, from a viewership standpoint, will be those two, I think.
