After Paris Olympics, Milan-Cortina 2026 enters critical final phase: official

ROME, Aug. 16 (Xinhua) -- The Paris Olympics set an example of post-pandemic Olympics for the Milan-Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games, and pushed Italian organizers to the final sprint of 18 months, a Milan-Cortina 2026 official said on Friday.

Andrea Varnier, the chief executive of the Milan-Cortina 2026 Olympic organizing committee, said that with the conclusion of the 2024 Olympics in Paris, the international sports spotlight is starting to shift to Italy.

"The Paris Olympics have given us a boost of enthusiasm and energy that will be very useful in the final year and a half of preparations," Varnier said in a statement emailed to Xinhua, adding that the Italian organizers are already relishing the opportunity.

The Milan-Cortina 2026 is set to be decentralized, with venues dotting the map across the northern part of Italy.

However, the question of venues is not without some worries. The track being constructed at an expense of around 81 million euros (about 89 million U.S. dollars) for the luge, bobsleigh, and skeleton competitions is reportedly behind schedule.

The International Olympic Committee has urged organizers to use already existing tracks near Italy in Switzerland or Austria. Doing so would make the 2026 Olympics the first to hold some events in a different country, but organizers and political leaders insist the track will be completed in time.

Varnier said that some significant challenges will be confronted in the coming months, but they can do well even with some tensions and concerns.