'Italia! Italia!' IOC awards 2026 Winter Olympics to Milan-Cortina d'Ampezzo
Excited members of the Italian delegation erupted with shouts of “Italia! Italia!” as the International Olympic Committee announced Monday that Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo would host the 2026 Winter Olympics.
The decision, which came down to either Stockholm and Are in Sweden or the northern Italian region, was announced in Lausanne, Switzerland, and marks the Games’ return to Italy for the first time since 2006, when they were held in Turin. Cortina d’Ampezzo, an Alpine ski resort, hosted the Winter Games in 1956.
Monday’s choice reflects a move to split hosting duties between regions or countries rather than confining them to a single city as the cost of staging the Games skyrockets.
Representatives from Milan believed after last month’s evaluation by a panel that they had the strongest bid, but Italy has had serious economic problems and is carrying a debt load that is the second highest in Europe, behind only Greece. By selecting Italy, the IOC handed a significant challenge to a country saddled with aging infrastructure and weakened by years of economic stagnation. Italy’s government has recently unnerved investors — and the European Union — with its populist spending plans, which threaten to increase one of the world’s heaviest debt burdens.
Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2019/06/24/ioc-will-vote-monday-site-winter-olympics-choosing-between-sweden-italy/?utm_term=.09370ac598b8
