Here we are, now. Even Turin, surprisingly, is about to enter the Milan-Cortina 2026 Winter Games program. First there was the management of Chiara Appendino, 5-star mayor: a short-sighted vision, like that of her friend Virginia Raggi in Rome, which had led to the exclusion of Turin, as well as the capital, from the Olympics. Two sensational opportunities she missed.
But now at least Turin is about to get back in the running after the availability of the mayor Lo Russo (Pd): the speed skating competitions, which involve about 180 athletes, will be held at the Lingotto Oval, a private and non-municipal body, which already 2006 had hosted the skating. Subsequently, the Oval was used in recent years for sporting events (such as the 2009 European Athletics Indoor Championships and archery), the Book Fair, Expocasa and other events. There are 8,500 seats. Thousands of fans would arrive in Turin for the Games, especially from Northern Europe with great benefits for tourism.
It will be Baselga di Pinè who will make way for Turin. The change of location will certainly be appreciated by the IOC which has always had strong doubts about this location. The International Skating Federation had asked for the covering of the Baselga di Pinè facility, costing 55 million, a huge expense given that the Oval is already ready and only requires the setting up of the ice rink. The Autonomous Province of Trento (President Maurizio Fugatti) will therefore be called to take the plunge, to give up: but it will certainly have its economic returns. Then, the decision, which could become official as early as January 20, must be ratified unanimously by the board of directors of the Olympic Foundation, president Giovanni Malagò. In short, the games are (almost) done. Turin had given its willingness to host other Olympic competitions. Among these is the bobsled: in 2006 the competitions were held in Cesana, a facility that cost 110 and has now been abandoned for years. How long would it take now to fix it? Better leave it alone. In fact, the conference of decision-making services on the sliding center of Cortina is scheduled for 18 January, called to host bobsleigh, parabobs, luge and skeleton. Approval of the definitive project is expected: the “Eugenio Monti” track which hosted the 1956 Games competitions will be redeveloped. The meeting was called by the engineer Luigivalerio Sant’Andrea, government commissioner and managing director of the Milano Cortina Infrastructure Company 2020-2026 SpA. The intervention is one of the works considered “essential – cannot be postponed”: the cost has risen in recent years, also due to delays, from 50 million to 85. But the governor of Veneto, Zaia, has always defended this work also against the perplexities of the IOC. The offer from Innsbruck, which has a ready-made track, was rejected: also for political reasons, especially with a centre-right government, it would be inconvenient to have to go and compete abroad, in Austria. We stay in Italy. Proving that we can take care of ourselves. Of course the costs are high, the number of bobists in Italy reduced to a few dozen, but there is the commitment of the minister Andrea Abodi, a man of sport before being a minister, to give a future to these works and Ivo Ferriani, president of the International Federation, could assign to Cortina after 2026 European and world bobsleigh competitions. In short, to avoid ending up like Cesana… By the way: the Turin organizers of the 2006 Games were also offered the La Plagne track in France, but the government (Berlusconi) and Coni refused. Meaning the fact that on the website www.simico.it (Milan-Cortina 2026 Infrastructures) a beautiful video on the Cortina bobsleigh track was recently published: therefore there is no will to give up. There are 1123 days left for the Games in Milan, Cortina and now Turin: now we need to run.
Meanwhile, the TV rights of these Games in Italy have not yet been assigned. Discovery Communications was awarded the right to broadcast the four Olympic Games from 2018 to 2024 in Europe on all platforms for 1.3 billion euros, beating national public broadcasters historically holding this type of event. The IOC had chosen Discovery, owner of the Eurosport pay channel, among other things, after a tender involving more than ten competitors. Discovery has taken the rights to the Winter Games in PyeongChang, South Korea in 2018, and the Tokyo Games in 2020, as well as the 2022 (Beijing) and 2024 (Paris) Olympics. Discovery then transferred the free-to-air rights to Rai in Italy. The assignment of rights for the next Olympics, including Milan-Cortina 2026 and Los Angeles 2028, will take place later. As well as for the 2032 Summer Games to be held in Brisbane, Australia. But the 2030 Winter Olympics have yet to be awarded. This will be done by the IOC session to be held in Mumbai, India in October. Running for the Games that will come after the Italian ones Sapporo, Japan, Salt Lake City, USA, and Vancouver, Canada.