Italy's Successful Bid to Host 2026 Winter Olympics

On Monday, June 24, the International Olympic Committee voted in favor of Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, to host the 2026 Winter Games. Committee members voted 47-34 in favor of Italy, which won the bid over Sweden. This will be the country’s third Winter Olympics. (Cortina hosted the 1956 games, with Turin hosting in 2006.)

Italy was a scene of jubilation; and Luca Cottini, PhD, a Villanova University associate professor of Italian, was in the country to witness the excitement.

Dr. Cottini spoke about the reasons for the successful bid by Milan and Cortina.

“There are two elements that stand out. One is the ability of two iconic cities—Milan and Cortina—to construct and present a well-planned proposal from a political and economic standpoint, vis-à-vis the inability of the city of Rome to present a serious candidacy for the 2024 Summer Olympics. The topic of Rome’s candidacy immediately became political, because the Five Star Movement mayor was in opposition to it as a waste of public money.”

“The second element of interest in this event is the continuity between the universal exposition of 2015 [Expo 2015], which Milan organized, and the Winter Olympics—confirming the ability of Milan to emerge as an exciting and appealing city in the international scene,” continued Dr. Cottini. “The energy generated by Expo 2015 certainly created and enforced the momentum that led Milan to be at the center of the world stage again in 2026.”