the first construction site for the Winter Olympics has just opened in Milan, without dispelling doubts
This week, your “Cross-border” page takes you to the first construction site for the next 2026 Winter Olympics. In Milan, trucks and construction workers are already busy. But, less than 4 years from the opening ceremony, administrative latecomers are piling up.
Officially, the starting signal for the construction of the infrastructure for the next Winter Olympics has been given. On February 20, in Beijing, the baton passed from the hands of the Chinese organizers of the 2022 Winter Olympics, to those of the Italian promoters of the 2026 Olympics.
Gianpietro Ghedina, the mayor of Cortina was, with Beppe Sala, the mayor of Milan, on the ice in Beijing to receive the Olympic flag. But on his return from China, he was quick to sow doubt at a press conference held at Milan Malpensa airport.
Accompanied by the 17 Italian Olympic medalists, the speech of the city councilor did not fail to have its effect. “At the moment, the administrative times do not allow us to be ready in time. China has shown great organizational capacity during these Games. I hope that all of Italy will allow us to hold the name of our country”.
video length: 03min 39
2026 Olympics. The first construction site for the Winter Olympics has just opened in Milan
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©France 3 Alps
A cold snap which is not without echoing that launched by Giovanni Malago. The president of the Italian National Olympic Committee, who a few days earlier had not hidden his concern.
“We are late. Three years have passed since the designation of Milan and Cortina and not a single site has yet emerged from the ground. I am very concerned”.
And how to prove him wrong? Right in the heart of the Santa Giulia district of Milan, the first construction site for the Games still only reveals a ballet of trucks loaded with earth and an enormous machine intended to clean the grounds of their pollutants which are to host, from next year, the foundations of the famous “PalaItalia”: a 16,000-seat maxi arena which will be the venue for men’s hockey matches at the Games.
“It will be the most important construction built for the 2026 Games”explains the deputy mayor of Milan, in charge of town planning. “The creed of the Italian candidacy being to use 90% of the equipment already built or to be restructured”specifies Giovanni Malago, who is also the president of the “Milano-Cortina” foundation, responsible for managing the various projects.
Once the Games are over, the future of the equipment is already assured: at the heart of a new commercial and residential district, the arena will be the largest show and congress hall in Italy. The one that all Milan has been waiting for for 20 years.
But you still have to build it. Because, for the time being, two appeals before the administrative court of Lombardy are undermining the construction deadlines. And if by chance the administrative dispute between the three real estate companies present was not resolved before September or October next, the alert will turn red.
400 kilometers away, in Cortina, other actions before the courts are underway. There are also fears of delays in the construction of much-needed roads as the Dolomites train station is a four-hour drive away from Milan. But we take this healing with a certain “dolomitic phlegm”. As proof, this recent statement by Gianpietro Ghedina brings us back to other major events organized in our neighbors in previous decades: the 1990 football world championships with its hastily completed stadiums; or the Universal Expo in Milan in 2015 with its Italian pavilion as beautiful as it was finished… out of time.
“Hosting the Alpine Skiing World Championships has taught us that the important thing is to be able to have sports infrastructure available on time. If we have to wait until after 2026 to have certain roads or support equipment put in place place on the Games map: we’ll make up our minds! There are roads that we’ve been waiting for 50 years…”.