Letter from Italy: Feeling positive ahead of the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina
Ed Stocker reports from Milan on how the Olympic Winter Games are a chance for the city to showcase a resurgent nation.
Walk through Milan’s Biblioteca degli Alberi park and past the Bosco Verticale and you’ll soon notice the Lombardy government’s skyscraper headquarters in the distance. Pictures of skiers and snowboarders have appeared across its façade along with signage declaring Italy’s commercial hub as a “host region”. The hosting in question is of the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026, from 6 to 22 February. Milan, which shares top billing with the Dolomites ski resort, is readying for its moment in the global spotlight.
Despite the stress and cost (estimated at more than €2bn), these Games present an opportunity to show both the city and wider country in a positive light. While the Winter Olympics don’t attract the same level of interest as the summer version, Italy could still reshape how it is viewed if it pulls off a successful Games – the country’s first since Turin 2006.
Fortuitously, this comes at a time of renewed confidence in Italy’s competence. Its prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, is presiding over the third-longest-serving government in the country’s post-1945 history and, despite some unsavoury social policies, she has helped rein in national debt – even if her detractors have accused her of austerity. Milan’s 2026 Games-inspired upgrades won’t be on the same scale as Barcelona’s in 1992, widely seen as a particularly successful transformation of a host metropolis. But that’s largely because the Lombard capital has been on a mission to convert itself from grey, industrial blob to sunny, cosmopolitan hub since it hosted the World Expo in 2015. As Milan becomes more attractive to live in – including for wealthy foreigners lured by a recent suite of tax incentives – it can demonstrate that the city is about more than big statements and lofty words. Milan Cortina is the snowy platform on which to do this.
There are plenty of soft-power medals to be won, particularly in culture and design. From January to March, the city’s Triennale museum will host White Out: The Future of Winter Sport, an exhibition exploring the intersection of design and sport. International design clout is offered by the UK’s David Chipperfield Architects, which built the new Santa Giulia arena – one part of the eponymous neighbourhood’s significant transformation. In nearby Porta Romana, US-based Skidmore, Owings & Merrill completed the Olympic Village in October ahead of schedule – magic words for any host city.
While no Olympics is ever plain sailing, the mood on the streets is upbeat, with a poll by Ipsos Dox showing that 63 per cent of Italians are positive about the event (and not just those set to make a killing through short-term rentals). Now comes the hard part: ensuring that everything stays on-piste.
