Milano Cortina 2026 - The Verdict

[Ikarus360]

With just six hours to go for the closing, I thought it would be nice to have a place to leave our opinions regarding these Winter Olympics and our expectations for French Alps 2030.

 

[cfm Jeremie]

From the ground it has been a great Games:

• Great atmosphere in the venues (that were full most of time, with spectators cheering everyone)
• Fantastic broadcast products, enhanced by the outdoors venues being surrounded by  amazing natural landscape
• Friendliness of the Team26 volunteers.
• Smooth organisation (especially the amount of snow that fell during the Games)
• Very positive feedback from the athletes on the villages

I have noticed two only misses:

• Lack of a real olympic atmosphere in most of Milano (but this is mainly due to the size of the city with the ice venues spread accross all corners of the city)
• A very expensive merchandising offer that quickly ran out of mascots

But all in all very well done Milano Cortina!

[baron-pierreIV]

/\Stop whining!!

[Hightowerio86]

I tend to agree. I thought these games organizationally ran as smoothly as you could ask them. The atmosphere from the fans was ok. The only problem for me was the venues being as widespread as it was and I know that going to be the case four years from now in the French Alps but overall, I would have to give these games a B+

[BigVic]

A great games. The action was in Northern Italy rather than Milano itself where it hosts ice hockey events. Best Winter Olympic Games since Vancouver 2010 

Ranking the WOG of the 21st century

1. Vancouver 2010 
2. SLC 2002 
3. Milano-Cortina 2026 
4. Torino (Turin) 2006 
5. PyeongChang 2018 
6. Sochi 2014 
7. Beijing 2022 

 

For my country Australia, we had the best Winter Games ever winning 6 medals (3G, 2S, 1B). A decentralized Opening Ceremony was unique and will be repeated two more times in LA2028 with the dual stadium OC approach as well as French Alps 2030. 

My highlights 
- Team Australia's best performance 
- NHL players back at the Olympics 
- Milo and Tina the mascots 
- World-class OBS broadcasts with drone technology during freestyle skiing, long track speed skating and sliding events 
- Packed crowds in most venues 
- Natural snow 

My lowlights 
- Events postponed in the second week such as the freestyle skiing women's halfpipe competition rescheduled to the final day 
- Mascots being sold out 
- Channel 9 broadcast 

[Ikarus360]

12 minutes ago, BigVic said:

- Mascots being sold out 

If anything is a testament of how popular and loved they were 🤣. Guess since I bought my Tina plush last year in advance I was lucky.

I also bought a Flo plushie but that one was much later so i had to pay dearly for it.

[FYI]

3 hours ago, cfm Jeremie said:

I have noticed two only misses:

• Lack of a real olympic atmosphere in most of Milano (but this is mainly due to the size of the city with the ice venues spread accross all corners of the city)

IDK - Paris is even larger & the city (& venue stadiums) was just absolutely abuzz during the 2024 Summer Games. It came through very well even on TV. I still remember how some of those streets in Paris were just overflowing with spectators just wanting to be part of the action.

Yes, the Summer Olympics are larger (& I'm sure there are many that go out in the winter less), but that element that we saw in Paris was definitely missing in Milan. I didn't see that same energy in the stands at these winter Games. Not saying that there wasn't any, but I don't think it was as intense as we saw with Paris in general. 

[baron-pierreIV]

jeremie's a champion WHINER!!!

[Guilga]

Well, they came and gone. Spread trough the north of Italy, these games were absolutely stellar at the sport department, as always. But was it for the atmosphere across the multiple cities? It has seemed so, even if you can't tell the distances apart all these places from just your television. Maybe except for Milan. Still, spread it was. But as much as the distances took the games apart of one other, Milan specifically being a bit isolated on the map compared to the other snow cities, it was still a Olympic Winter Games.

And i still have to make it the best one: My country won a Gold Medal, it's first medal on winter, after all.

It was apart, but it was no different. And that is Milano Cortina 2026's biggest acomplishment, their format works. Instead of building and then abandoning venues, they built, renovated or just used venues which Italy already used for their snow sports mostly. And for the ice sports in Milan, most were temporary anyway, even if some had quite the delays to finish, looking at you Santagiulia... And now i wonder what the hell is going to happen with that Cortina slide, rebuilt over national pride. Hopefully they use it unlike Torino's one. 

Merch wise, i have to guess that the mascots were a resounding success, since they became as valuable as water in the desert! Lucky athletes that recieve them for free for medalling.

Sport wise, you could only get better if you wished for it. The Hockey and Figure Skating finals, Italy historic host nation performance, Klaebo, Lucas Pinheiro Braathen (OF COURSE I WOULD PUT THAT IN!!), Canada curling cheaters, and many, many more. It was great.

It is now time to give it a grade: 9,5/10. -0,5 for the AI slop at the opening, and for the little flaws on the build up. Fun times were held, mostly watching multiple streams whether from Globo or CazéTV, and we got to hear the "Tema da Vitória" at the arena. 

It was truly a Fantasia Italiana.

PS: That Mariah Carey Volare performance made me look for the song on Youtube. I found the original, eventually but it also gave me this banger.

 

[sebastien1214]

To be perfectly honest, I only watched a few events. These Games are happening at the worst possible time in terms of free time for binge-watching TV, at least for me.

But from what little I saw, and especially based on feedback I've seen here and there, it seems the 2026 Winter Games were excellent. I honestly doubt 2030 will live up to 2026; but who knows, maybe we'll be pleasantly surprised in four years?

Now, I'm also waiting to see the day when Italy, most likely Rome, will host the Summer Games again. Although it would be logical (and desirable?) for Germany to get them first. But for that to happen, I imagine we'll have to wait until the 2040s or 2050s, for those of us who make it that far.

[TorchbearerSydney]

Hard to fault these Games..no major dramas (and only a few small ones)...athletes seem happy, the weather was great, many countries doing well...a solid 'A-" for me.

[FYI]

You mean that you didn't get the sense that Milan was in total chaos, at the beginning of the winter Games (if you only followed certain media outlets, that is).

[brasilolimpico]

MILANO-CORTINA 2026: Memorable days.

In a world where the climate emergency seems to give a sense of finality to the Winter Olympics, if everything ended in Milan-Cortina it would be a grand finale.

I think that for the first time since at least Vancouver 2010, the feeling I got was that these were 'real' games. I think the snowy landscape of the Italian Alps helped a lot with that, especially when compared to the desolate scenery of Beijing and a strange feeling of artificiality in Sochi.

The organization did well, the opening ceremony didn't have that moment that will go down in history, but everything went well and seemed tasteful. I think that after a ceremony that didn't work well in Paris, it was an easy challenge for the Italians to surpass themselves.

Despite the political viewpoints that are surfacing in the world today, and naturally a country with a prime minister like Meloni, the games were not contaminated by politics.

For my country, these were record-breaking games, despite the generally modest performance of our athletes. In several sports, we had never gone so far. It was also our largest delegation, and best of all, OUR FIRST MEDAL, in alpine skiing, with Lucas Pinheiro Olympic gold.

For the Brazilian public, these were the most covered games by the media in history. We had TV GLOBO (the country's largest TV channel) broadcasting the opening ceremony (live – for the first time for the Winter Games) and a daily afternoon session of events. We also had the largest sports channel, SPORTV, on pay TV, and a novelty, CAZETV, broadcasting hundreds of hours for free on YouTube. I saw people in the streets commenting on and watching the games, especially attracting the attention of our people for alpine skiing (for obvious reasons), curling, and figure skating.

My only negative point is that it seems like the atmosphere in Milan was a little lacking.

Overall, Milano-Cortina was an edition that brings the games to a safe environment, just like London, Vancouver, and Sydney.

9/10

For the French Alps 2030, I'm worried, everything seems like a huge mess. I hope they get organized, because beating Italy won't be easy!

[baron-pierreIV]

For being the self-proclaimed "fashion capital of the world," why were all the ceremonial "honor guards and escorts" dressed in BLACK or whatever other dark color there was?  Was there a sale on yards of black fabrics?? And again, from the outre, stupid-looking "placard" girls in the Opening to again, all the flag escorts looked like illuminati capos.  
Did they ever mention why the "field marshals" at Closing were wearing TURANDOT costumes?  3 reasons: #1 - 2026 is the centennial of the opera which premiered in LA SCALA in April 1926; and #2 - they were able to borrow and launder all the Turandot costumes from the local opera companies.  No need for new costumes there -- just dry-cleaning bills.  #3 - Thicker costumes for the volunteers. 

(This is not for jeremie the Jackass!)

Edited February 22 by baron-pierreIV

[Sir Rols]

5 minutes ago, baron-pierreIV said:

Did they ever mention why the "field marshals" at Closing were wearing TURANDOT costumes?  2 reasons: #1 - 2026 is the centennial of the opera which premiered in LA SCALA in April 1926; and #2 - they were able to borrow and launder all the Turandot costumes from La Scala, Verona, Bologna and Rome opera companies.

There actually was some mention in the commentary that they were costumes from the Verona Opera company historical collection.

[sebastien1214]

Allow me to add my two cents by reminding everyone that the world capital of fashion is not in Italy.

[baron-pierreIV]

50 minutes ago, Sir Rols said:

There actually was some mention in the commentary that they were costumes from the Verona Opera company historical collection.

Ah.  My US announcers don't always mention such things or some trivia like this gets cut off.  

Edited February 22 by baron-pierreIV
x

[krow]

one interesting trivia fact i learned in the opening ceremony was

[sebastien1214]

3 minutes ago, krow said:

one interesting trivia fact i learned in the opening ceremony was

that water is a source of life ?

[Sir Rols]

I watched these games pretty closely over the past two weeks - streaming is such a great development for the Olympics - and I’ve half rehearsed a final review in my mind a few times, but now it comes down to it, I’m not sure what to say. For all that I devoured them, I wasn’t really gripped by these games. There were moments I felt the old Olympic passion surge, but I didn’t make it to the end sad it was finishing and thirsting for more.

It began well - the opening ceremony was the most fun for a long time - and ended, to me, ambivalently, - a closing ceremony that peaked in its first quarter of an hour then just fell away.

Cortina (and Livigno and the other mountain locales) were extremely picturesque settings, truly lovely, while Milan was just the inside of a few ice venues. The look, again apart from the pretty Alps, was stolid and workmanlike. Verona was a wonderful setting to sign off from -but had nothing to do with the preceding two weeks.

It’s hard to gauge the atmosphere on the ground, though from comments by the likes of @Citizen-Seth and @cfm Jeremie and a few press reports, it seems the Italians did warm to the games. From a couch perspective, I don’t know if that came across. Much was made that these were the first “two city games” (though I think that’s only in nomenclature- we’ve seen a few past spread out games, just not named as such), but on TV it seemed to all work together seamlessly. I’ve always been sceptical of “compact” games claims, and I think that matters less and less in the modern broadcasting age.

Sports-wise, Australia had its best-ever Winter games, so that was nice. And there was the usual great feats and achievements. I think I missed some grand drama or scandal, a Valieva moment, to give some spark. I know it sounds cynical, but a bit of scandal helps to build drama.

I guess what I’m saying is that my feelings towards Milano-Cortina are probably shaped a lot by my own ennui. The winter sports are fun to watch every four years, but I’m not passionate for them. I enjoyed M-C 2026 well enough, but I’ll probably forget them soon enough.

My highly subjective score is 6/10. That probably says more about me than about Milano-Cortina.

Edited February 22 by Sir Rols

[baron-pierreIV]

50 minutes ago, Sir Rols said:

Verona was a wonderful setting to sign off from -but had nothing to do with the preceding two weeks.

Did they even try to inject a Romeo-&-Giulietta connection?  I mean, they had Milano (opera), Venice (the gondolas), Cortina  (of course, no Rome or Torino -- he, he).  But I guess the answer is Verona bans pyrotechnics!  Saves on the budget!  
 

Now, who did they get everybody back to Milano & Cortina?  ALysa Liu was already caught yawning!! 

P.S.  Funny.  No drone show either.  But I liked the closing of the candelabra lights although not well synchronized with the (recorded) snuffing out of the actual flames.  

Edited February 23 by baron-pierreIV

[yoshi]

Stream of consciousness incoming, loosely based on Rols' comment:

The opening was good fun, but the closing was meh really. A lot of it was similar to Paris, it says a lot when the star of the show is the venue, as beautiful as it obviously is. As for sporting venues, no doubt Cortina was the star, & it's interesting just how much more authentic it feels when there's real snow falling during the events. With a lot of people saying it's the best Games since Vancouver, and the talk of the ones since feeling artificial, I think that is a large part of it. It did come across that the stands were mostly packed, especially for snow sports. As a proof of concept for split Olympics, it couldn't have gone much better for the IOC. I just hope they don't jeopardise what makes the Winter Games special right when they've found it again. The French plan to an extent & especially the Swiss proposal feel like they go too far with splitting - the city-mountain pair feels just right as a compromise.

As for the action, it was our best games too! Although Australia beat us, even here... As for grand scandal - what about curling?! I don't really know how one tiny boop at the release line can give such an advantage, but you can't say it didn't get attention. Moment of the games...I know it seems weird to choose a GB moment that ended in a 4th place after the medal success, but Mia Brookes' 3rd run in the big air final - trying something that had never been done, so narrowly missing it, but being able to pick herself up, be proud that she tried it instead of playing safe, & celebrate what everyone else did - summed up the Olympic spirit, & summed up why the sports like that in winter & summer have been such good additions*.

It sometimes feels like it's a bit of a shame that the games are held so late in the northern winter - with the sports seasons presumably over or nearly over, by the time they restart summer has happened & I (& no doubt others) have basically forgotten about them. Being between two very time-friendly Olympics, I'd like to not do that again, but it doesn't help that the coverage isn't exactly well publicised - if indeed it exists much. Especially after the numerous viral commentary moments, I can't be alone in feeling that the freestyle ski & snowboard season events would be ideal cheap & filling - not to mention fitting & hopefully successful - programming for BBC Three. Maybe even hockey too, although hockey is infinitely better in person than on TV.

Overall I kinda felt the opposite to Rols - I wasn't expecting much, the games crept up without much hype - but I got gripped as they went on. It's like I'd forgotten how much fun the Winter Olympics are with how long it's been since it was in a good timezone. Italy should be very pleased with how it went, especially with the buildup. Hopefully France can rescue a similar success - bonne chance  

*except breaking. Let's not do that again...

Edited February 23 by yoshi

[Olympian2004]

Milano Cortina 2026, at least when it comes to the Olympic Winter Games, has been history for two days now. And I am happy to report that the usual post-Olympic blues has not set in for me. On the other hand, that proves for me what @Sir Rols already stated: The Olympic Games are an old friend and once again, I was happy to watch as much of them as possible, but I was not really gripped by this edition of the Games either.

Sure, it was very nice to see the Winter Games return to a traditional winter sports region, and the Alps, the blue Italian skies and the occasional snowfalls provided a beautiful setting which actually couldn't have been better. Italy did a good job as hosts, the competitions went smoothly, despite the huge distances, I did not see or hear any reports about transportation issues, and while the Italian people were not exactly enthusiastic in the lead-up to these Games, they proved to be warm and cheerful hosts in the course of the past two-and-a-half weeks. 

So what is it what kept me from fully enjoying these Games? Was it the struggle of the German Olympic Team, which is practically reduced to being a powerhouse in the sledding events but has great difficulties winning medals in all other winter sports? Was it the scandal that the IOC created around Vladislav Heraskevych's helmet that led to his absolutely exaggerated disqualification and the odd tears by the IOC president herself? Was it because I have turned way too cynical towards the Olympic Games in recent years, despite the wonderful Games of Paris? Or was it simply because, just like Roland, I am more interested in summer than in winter sports? Maybe it was a combination of all of these factors.

Even the athletic performances failed to dazzle me, at least once in a while. Mixed with some truly wonderful performances, we saw overambition as in the case of Lindsey Vonn (who, as we have now learned, already lost her leg after her awful fall in the women's downhill), overhype as in the case of Ilia Malinin whose nerves failed under the (also self-created) pressure to prove his dominance also on the Olympic stage, and overdominance as in the case of Johannes Høsflot Klæbo who won every event in the men's cross-country skiing and shattered all medal records in Olympic Winter Games history. At the same time, we saw wonderful comebacks like that of Federica Brignone, interesting new athletes with lots of potential like Emma Aicher or great Olympic stories like that of Brazil's first-ever Winter Olympic medal, namely the gold of Lucas Pinheiro Braathen, or Kazakhstan's Mikhail Shaidorov surprisingly winning the men's figure skating gold against a nervous bunch of competitors. So it was a mix of great or at least pleasant moments on the one hand and appalling or highly disappointing moments on the other.

So Olympic Games are a wonderful distraction from everyday life, but in the end, they prove to be just as much of a mixed bag as everyday life itself. This is nothing new actually, but as I said, maybe I have become too cynical after all the bad things that happened in the IOC, the Olympic Games and the entire world in recent years to ignore it as successfully as I did when I was younger.

This is not Milano's and Cortina's fault, and there is actually not much that they could have done better - besides maybe the ceremonies that ranged from "good, but fairly forgettable" to "tedious and particularly forgettable" and the lack of Olympic atmosphere that was reported from athletes and officials in Bormio. At the same time, I would always defend the organizers' decision to spread out the events across such a huge area - for better or worse, this is the reality we have to deal with in times of climate change and an increased emphasis on sustainability. Milano and Cortina did a very important service to the future of the Olympic Games in using so many existing venues. 

So these 25th Olympic Winter Games deserve a ranking among the better ones, even if they were not as magical and unforgettable as Lillehammer 1994, Salt Lake 2002 or Vancouver 2010. Italy can be proud of what it achieved, also in terms of medals, and can look forward to being a Olympic host again. In these times of climate change, it could happen sooner than later.

[Olympian2004]

Correction: "who, as we have now learned, *almost lost her leg after her awful fall in the women's downhill"

[Citizen-Seth]

@Sir Rols Ask and ye shall receive!

General thoughts:

If there any sort of overarching narrative from Milano Cortina, I think that confirms what we saw in Paris: the world wants the Olympics to be a source of joy again. I think the Olympics lost that between 2014 and 2024. It's the host's job to facilitate that joy, and it's the IOC's job to make the host's job as easy as possible. No Games is without its challenges and unique circumstances, but by just about every measurable metric, this was a great edition. Easily the best WOG since 2010, which I think of as the gold standard for WOGs.

-            Ceremonies

o   My review of the opening largely stands. I think it’s easily the best opening we’ve gotten since Sochi. Could I have used a little less modern dance? Sure, but they tried some new and innovative things which were largely successful. While I don’t personally care for the cauldron design, you can’t deny that it made for an iconic image under the Arco della Pace and it was actually really nice to have something so iconic on such an intimate, human scale.

o   I didn’t attend the closing ceremony, but it looked like it checked all the boxes from what I saw on TV. The venue was stunning, though a little disconnected from the actual host cities.

-            Design

o   I think I’m generally in the minority of folks on this board when I say that I love almost every design element of these Games. The look was beautiful and classy without the risk of being a little too bland (a la PyeongChang or Tokyo). Though I think it rarely came across on the broadcasts, the indoor venues were branded with the darkest colors at the bottom/nearest the field of play which got lighter/warmer as they went up through the stands – a fun little nuance from the design team. I loved the color palate, especially in the mountains, and even the week-two facelift in the hockey venue looked great. My only gripe was that it was clear that the look applications had been cut for budget. The two venue renders released in the look press release (big air jump and big all of Santagiulia) didn’t materialize. Leaving the scaffolding of the big air jump completely unbranded was a major miss. Even a light-up set of rings like in Sydney would have been iconic.

o   Likewise, I loved the torches and was thankful to find several chances to hold them (much easier to do than at any of my other Games). The only real miss for me is the medals, which I found to be very bland. I generally prefer the winter medals over summer, but the design felt like an afterthought.

-            Venues

o   As good as any I’ve been to. Admittedly, this is only my second WOG, but no complaints. I see why San Siro is beloved and I see why it’s being torn down. Despite the drama around Santagiulia, it was a great arena and, had I not been aware of the delays, I wouldn’t have noticed that a few small details were unfinished. The freeskiing and snowboarding events in Livigno were incredible. The Livigno snow park should rank up there with the all-time great winter Olympic venues. Exceptional atmosphere and a great host city.

-            Logistics

o   I’m genuinely shocked at how well everything came together. I wouldn’t be surprised if the “How to get to Livigno” page of the website still says, “coming soon.” Regardless of the lack of information, the transportation to the mountains was easy and hassle-free. I know this aspect kept many from attending, but I never experienced any issues. Honestly, I found the lack of signage in the Milano metro a bigger issue than the logistics of getting into the mountains.

o   These were my 5^th Games and these were the easiest venues to enter, ever. I never waited in line for more than 5 minutes to enter any venue.

o   I hate that this is one of my biggest complaints, but these were also the most untrained volunteers of any Olympics I’ve been to. Even by the end of week one, there were major inconsistencies in what was being allowed into venues, in how thorough they were being with security searches, and even with how knowledgeable they were on where things were located inside the venue. Very disappointing. 

-            Sporting Competition

o   I’ll own my American bias here, but these Games were spectacular. Even though I seemed to be a bad luck charm for every American I saw compete, everything I watched – both in person and on TV – was phenomenal.

-            Digital Engagement

o   The Olympic app worked seamlessly. I was getting scores in real time, just as I was hearing them announced in the venue. Hearing each athlete say their own name was also a nice touch.

o   The IOC/OCOG social media game just keeps getting better. Add into that the social juggernaut of NBC and the USOPC, and you’ve got an absolute master class on how to activate real-time content. As someone who works in digital content full time, I’m genuinely blown away. I hope the entire media team of every organization involved is sleeping in this week.

o   It was fascinating to see the different media narratives that developed through the games, between the US, English-speaking Europe, and non-English-speaking Europe. Social media has made it impossible for there to be a single Olympic story, and the IOC did a good job handling all of them.

o   Kirsty Coventry is a breath of mostly fresh air, and I think she passed her first Games with mostly flying colors. Her final press conference was an embarrassment, but if that’s the worst of it, I think she still comes out looking good. Could you imagine Rogge crying on Instagram?

-            Global Broadcast

o   Sorry, I know this is a hot take, but NBC Peacock is hands-down the best way to experience the Olympics. I really think it might even be better than being at the actual Olympics in many ways. Every event is live and you often have the option of commentator. I know folks on boards like this often hate on NBC for their coverage, but it’s never been easier to have whatever kind of Olympic viewing experience you want. 2026 feels like the year that they finally got the streaming Olympics right. 

-            Vibes/Hospitality

o   I spent the week before the opening ceremony in Rome, Florence, and Torino, and was surprised by the interest I saw. In Rome, no one seemed to care. One person I spoke to even asked me where they were actually having them “Oh, in Torino again?” A similar vibe in Florence. In Torino, however, lots of people were excited, and we met several folks who had event tickets. In each of these cities, there was no advertising for the Games outside of the broadcaster banners on busses and the sponsoring train line at each station. I contrast this with the LA28 logo I pass on my way to work each day here on the US east coast.

o   I was 18 when Torino hosted in 2006, but one of the things I remember hearing was that the locals never seemed to get the Olympic fever. It was a similar experience in Milan. I had a local tell me, “They’re for you, not for us.” If you found yourself walking on the Olympic Boulevard (where the official stores, fan sites, and sponsor pavilions were) between the cauldron and the Duomo, you the energy was electric. If you walked two blocks away from that area, it seemed like business as usual. There were very few LOTG banners, and the city didn’t really feel busier than it would during fashion week. This did seem to change a little bit as time went on, but I don’t think it ever reached a fever pitch the was it has at other Games.

o   Livigno, on the other hand, was a phenomenal host city. Admittedly, I think locals were surprised at how quiet things were. Several folks remarked to us that because so much of the in-town lodging was taken up by volunteers, athletes, and security, the number of spectators staying in town was extremely low. I stayed in Livigno for three nights and it was a highlight of my Olympic experience. I appreciate how it wasn’t overrun by tourists just like me.

o   The live sites in both Milan and Livigno were very well organized. All of the sponsor pavilions and country houses that I visited (admittedly not that many) were engaging. A special shout out to Casa Polina in Livigno for the best experience. I love Poland and their team was incredibly kind and welcoming to anyone who wanted to stop by.

 

My official-ish Olympic ranking:

1. Paris 2024
2. London 2024

3. Vancouver 2010

4. Milano Cortina 2026

5. Beijing 2008