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≡ THE ROSEN REPORT ≡
“IT’s Your Vibe.”
That’s the motto for the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Olympics. “IT” is capitalized on purpose to symbolize communication and connection, but your vibe is completely different depending on where you experience the Games.
It’s more than just the traditional city vs. mountains or pavement vs. snow that has characterized past editions.
Giovanni Malago, the head of the organizing committee, said this would be “a pioneering edition of the Winter Games, spread across a vast territory,” as if it were a good thing.
Instead, it’s a challenge. One Olympic veteran said the Games are more like five distinct World Championships.
Most Olympic media and fans have been encouraged to choose a “cluster” and stay there because traveling between them is too onerous. It is five to six hours from Milan to Cortina by car. Without a car, it can take even longer based on train and bus schedules.
Milan hosts the figure skating, hockey and speed skating while Cortina has women’s alpine, the sliding events and curling.
Livigno, part of the Valtellina cluster, has Freestyle skiing (including moguls) and snowboard events. It is about four hours by car or bus between Livigno and Milan, and includes passage through some very long tunnels. Bormio, about an hour from Livigno, has men’s alpine and the new sport of ski mountaineering.
The Val di Fiemme cluster, comprising Predazzo and Tesero, hosts cross country, ski jumping and nordic combined, while Bolzano (Anterselva di Sopra) has biathlon.
People who have been to many summer and winter Olympics have commented that Milan, which has a population of 1.4 million, “doesn’t feel like an Olympic city.”
The Games are more like a few blips on the urban landscape. There are some large billboards and signage in some parts of the city. That huge Samsung ad on the Duomo, a revered religious site, is a bit jarring. Near the La Scala opera house and a statue of Leonardo da Vinci, people stand in line to pose in front of the Olympic rings, which unobtrusively stand in front of a building.
Most banners are only near the venues. There are pictograms on wires stretched across the street courtesy of Milano Cortina 2026 sponsor Eli Lilly, which explains that it is a “medicine” company.
People wearing accreditation or volunteer uniforms were more noticeable at previous Games. In Milan, metro riders stare at accreditations like they have never seen one before. However, you do see fans, particularly the Dutch in their orange, around the Duomo or on public transportation.
There are long walks from the metro stations to the Milan venues, particularly the Fiera Milano Rho (speed skating and some hockey), which is about a mile. While there are some moving sidewalks along the way, it is still an incredibly long corridor. If you get off at the wrong stop for figure skating/short track (the official transport app has the wrong number of stops), you actually have to cross a highway on foot.
City life does have its charms. The Milanese dining scene is superb and diverse, and must-see sightseeing trips include the Duomo, “The Last Supper” by da Vinci at the Convent of Santa Maria delle Grazie and other museums and cultural attractions.
But if you came to the Games for the Olympic spirit, it’s much more visible in Livigno and Cortina. Each has a population of about 6,000, and expands during the ski season. Their main streets are covered in banners and flags. Shop windows, which cater to winter enthusiasts, are full of Olympic imagery. It seems every other person is wearing a team jacket or volunteer uniform or is a fan. And yet life goes on, with some folks carrying ski equipment for their own trips to the slopes, oblivious to the competitions around them.
In Livigno, many of the accommodations are just a few minutes’ walk to the venues and a shuttle bus connects them. The Australians – who have their best medal hopes here – have a big presence here and have scoped out the best cafes. However, if you order a cappuccino at the cafe they say has the best selection, the proprietors prefer you drink it without sugar, handing it over reluctantly. You can pop out of the venue after a morning session, eat a good lunch in town, and then see a night event. Amazingly, portions of the competitions, like Snowboard Cross and Big Air, are visible from the street without a ticket.
The town center of Cortina is the 18th century church of Santi Filippo e Giacomo with its iconic bell tower. Only the peaks are higher. The Corso Italia has a vibrant night life, and in the distance lights illuminate the Tofane skiing course.
The new sliding center and curling arena are adjacent to each other. Curling is held at the site that hosted the 1956 Winter Olympic figure skating competitions and some of the wooden seats are original and extremely uncomfortable. “Sometimes we have to suffer. It proves we are alive,” said one volunteer.
The weather, of course, also varies tremendously between city and mountains. Milano is warm – sometimes in the 50s – and rainy. There are usually puddles because of fog and drainage issues.
Livigno is currently blanketed by heavy snow, causing disruptions to the competition schedule, and it can be bitterly cold. That’s not an issue with the indoor venues of Milan, so in this case comfort wins out over spirit.
The experiences on the Olympic “sidelines” vary, too. The Casa Italia and other hospitality houses are en route to the curling and sliding venues in Cortina. There are more hospitality houses and sponsor activations in Milan, but they are spread out.
Of course, there are some similarities. Expect lines to get into the Olympic stores anywhere you go. Time to head for the metro.
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