Milan and Cortina Share the Winter Olympics

On 24 June 2019, the International Olympic Committee convened its 134th Session in Lausanne, Switzerland, to determine the host of the XXV Olympic Winter Games. Delegates chose a joint bid from the northern Italian cities of Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo over a competing joint proposal from Stockholm and Are in Sweden. The selection marked the first time the Olympic Games were officially shared by two co-hosting cities. It also scheduled Italy to stage its third Winter Games, following Cortina d'Ampezzo in 1956 and Turin in 2006, as well as its fourth Olympic gathering overall when accounting for the 1960 Summer Games in Rome.

The 2026 Winter Olympics, running from 6 to 22 February 2026, departed from the traditional compact Olympic model by dispersing competitive sites across hundreds of kilometres in Lombardy, Veneto, and Trentino-Alto Adige. While Milan served as the primary base for indoor ice sports, outdoor snow and sliding competitions unfolded across mountain clusters located in Cortina, Valtellina, and the Fiemme Valley. To control expenditures and environmental disruption, planners relied predominantly on established sports infrastructure, including facilities preserved from the 1956 Games and the 2013 Winter Universiade. New construction was largely restricted to vital projects, such as a 12,000-seat multi-use arena in Milan designed by David Chipperfield to accommodate men's and women's ice hockey.