Thousands of miles from the site of next year’s Olympic Winter Games in Milan Cortina, the Italian delegation met with representatives of the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee at the Italian Consulate in New York City to build excitement for the 2026 Games.
After stops in Munich and Paris earlier this year, New York was the only U.S. stop on the Roadshow. The meeting served as an opportunity to further strengthen the bond between the U.S. and Italy in the buildup to the Winter Games. The event was organized by the Milan Cortina Foundation (officially, La Fondazione Milano Cortina 2026) in collaboration with the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and several other Italian governing bodies.
The Milan Cortina Winter Olympics and Paralympics are scheduled for February 6-22, 2026, and March 6-15, 2026, respectively.
Before enjoying prosciutto and prosecco, institutional representatives and key figures from both countries emphasized the opportunity for these Games to represent not only sport at its highest level, but also unprecedented logistical coordination.
That coordination will be paramount at the 2026 Winter Games as Milan and Cortina will become the first cities to officially co-host an Olympics. All events will take place across northern Italy over three main regions: Lombardy, Veneto and Trentino-Alto Adige.
“The sport lights of the whole world will be in our cities, and we will demonstrate how sport can be a driver of sustainable development, economic growth, and social inclusion,” Vice President and Councilor for Budget and Finance of the Lombardy Region Marco Alparone said.
Though the 2026 Winter Games present unique logistical challenges, Italy is no stranger to hosting the Olympics. The 2026 Milan Cortina Olympics will mark the fourth time Italy has hosted the Games. Italy was home to the Winter Games twice before – in Cortina in 1956 and Torino in 2006 – and hosted the summer Games in Rome in 1960.
This will be Italy’s second time hosting the Paralympic Winter Games (2006 Torino) and its third time hosting the Paralympics overall. Italy served as the host of the first-ever Paralympic Games in Rome in 1960.
“It is an honor for us to host, here in New York, the International Roadshow, which is not only a window into what will be next year’s major world event, but something bigger,” Italian Consul General in New York City, Fabrizio di Michele said. “I don’t want to sound rhetorical, but the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games will carry a message of peace, equality, internationality and fair play. Values that are and will forever be the true essence of the Games.”
The Italian delegation also included Andrea Varnier, CEO of Fondazione Milano Cortina and Nicola Polito, COO of Trentino Marketing.
The U.S. Olympic and Paralympic movement was represented by United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee Chair Gene Sykes, along with Sarah Hughes and Declan Farmer. Hughes won a gold medal in figure skating at the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics and Farmer is a Paralympic champion in sled hockey. Italian American journalist Mario Platero moderated the panel.
There have been many changes since the last time Italy hosted a Winter Games. In Torino in 2006, 2,508 athletes competed across 84 events in seven different sports. In 2026, approximately 2,900 athletes are expected to compete in 116 events across 16 sports, up from 109 events across 15 sports at the 2024 Beijing Games.
There will be one new sport in the 2026 Winter Games – ski mountaineering – and eight new events across ski mountaineering, freestyle skiing, luge, ski jumping and skeleton.
The Paralympics have also expanded since Italy last hosted. In 2006, 474 para-athletes contested 58 medal events across five sports.
At the 2026 Milan Cortina Paralympics, there will be 79 events across six sports compared to 78 events in six sports in Beijing. There will be one new event: mixed doubles in wheelchair curling. About 665 athletes are expected to compete from approximately 50 delegations.
Polito (of Trentino marketing) explained what makes the Trentino region uniquely positioned to host some of these events.
“Trentino is a paradise for sport lovers,” Polito said. “Sport is part of our region’s culture, supported by excellent facilities and strong organization. In Trentino, sport is a way of life, that is practiced all year round, whether it is climbing, hiking or biking, everyone can find their favorite activity here. Now we are very excited to have the chance to host cross-country skiing competitions, ski jumping competitions and Nordic combined next February, and then para cross-country and para biathlon in March”.
Enthusiasm for the Games is already building. According to Varnier, more than half of the tickets for the Olympics have been sold, and the U.S. is third among nations with the highest number of tickets bought. Varnier added that they have received volunteer applications from over 100,000 people, many of whom are from the United States.
With the U.S. stop complete, the International Roadshow will travel to Tokyo, Oslo, Stockholm, Seoul and Beijing in the coming months to continue to spread enthusiasm for the 2026 Milan Cortina Olympics.
“These Games will be a model of sustainability and at the same time they will leave a lasting legacy for future generations,” Alparone said. “The Lombardy region and Italy are ready to welcome the world with passion and professionalism.”
